COVID-19 cases rise to 24,000 in Africa – WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, has said the number of Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Africa had risen to over 24,000 in the past 24 hours.

The UN’s health agency gave the update on its official twitter account, @WHOAFRO on Wednesday.

“More than 24,000 COVID-19 cases have been reported on the African continent – with over 6,250 recoveries and 1,100 deaths,’’ it said.

The WHO African Region COVID-19 dashboard showed that in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa suffers the most severe outbreak, while Cameroon and Ghana have more than 2,000 confirmed cases.

The figures on the dashboard showed that South Africa, Algeria and Cameroon had continued to top the list of countries with the highest reported cases.

It showed that South Africa has 3,465 cases and 58 deaths followed by Algeria with 2,811 cases and 392 deaths, while Cameroon has 1,163 confirmed cases with 43 deaths.

According to the dashboard, South Sudan, Sao Tome and Principe, Mauritania and The Gambia are countries with lowest confirmed cases in the region.

It showed that South Sudan and Sao Tome and Principe had the lowest confirmed cases, with each having four cases with zero death.

Mauritania, the dashboard showed, was the second country with lowest confirmed cases with seven reported cases and one death.

The Gambia, the third country with lowest cases, had recorded 10 confirmed cases with one death.

Also, the dashboard showed that Nigeria is number 9 among the countries with highest cases with 541 confirmed cases and 19 deaths.

Giving an update, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said 117 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the last 24 hours, bringing to 782 the number of confirmed cases in country.

WHO, however, appealed to people to stay safe and limit the spread on COVID19.

“Remember to wash your hands as soon as you arrive home and house building; make sure family members and guests wash their hands as soon as they enter your home,’’ it said.