All 54 countries in Africa have now recorded over 72,000 positive cases. Just when we were thinking about relocating to Lesotho, the Southern African country recorded its first coronavirus case yesterday, making it the last African country to confirm an index case. As of May 14, the confirmed coronavirus death toll on the continent stood at 2,483, with fatalities including President Buhari’s former Chief-of-Staff, Mallam Abba Kiyari, former President of the Republic of the Congo Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango and Somalia’s former Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, over 25,000 infected patients have recovered and have been discharged. That’s somewhat good news considering the fact that the number represents more than one-third of the positive cases in Africa.Â
African countries are imposing a range of prevention and containment measures against the spread of the pandemic. But powerhouses like Nigeria and Ghana are already easing restrictions to allow limited commercial activities resume. While Kenya has no blames of relaxing restrictions, South Africa is thinking of following that path to save its distressed economy. Experts warn fragile healthcare systems in many African countries could be overwhelmed in the face of a severe outbreak of COVID-19.
- Confirmed cases = 72,391
- Number of deaths = 2,493
- Recoveries = 25,269
- Infected countries = 54
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 4,348,246 cases have been detected worldwide, including 297,226 deaths and 1,549,425 recoveries.
- Algeria – 6,253
- Angola – 45
- Benin – 327
- Botswana – 24
- Burkina Faso – 773
- Burundi – 15
- Cameroon – 2,800
- Cape Verde – 289
- Central African Republic – 143
- Chad – 372
- Comoros – 11
- Congo-Brazzaville – 333
- DR Congo – 1,169
- Djibouti – 1,268
- Egypt – 10,431
- Equatorial Guinea – 522
- Eritrea – 39
- Eswatini – 187
- Ethiopia – 263
- Gabon – 863
- (The) Gambia – 23
- Ghana – 5,408
- Guinea – 2,374
- Guinea-Bissau – 836
- Ivory Coast – 1,912
- Kenya – 737
- Lesotho – 1
- Liberia – 213
- Libya – 64
- Madagascar – 212
- Malawi – 63
- Mali – 758
- Mauritania – 16
- Mauritius – 332
- Morocco – 6,512
- Mozambique – 104
- Namibia – 16
- Niger – 860
- Nigeria- 4,971
- Rwanda – 287
- Sao Tome and Principe – 220
- Senegal – 2,105
- Seychelles – 11
- Sierra Leone – 387
- Somalia – 1,219
- South Africa – 12,074
- South Sudan – 203
- Sudan – 1,818
- Tanzania – 509
- Togo – 219
- Tunisia – 1,032
- Uganda – 139
- Zambia – 446
- Zimbabwe – 37
