Africa approaches 50,000 COVID-19 cases, 2,000 deaths – WHO

The number of coronavirus cases across the African continent has reached 49,121, with 1,956 related deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa said on Wednesday.

According to the organisation’s statistics, COVID-19 has reached all 54 African countries and only nine of them have yet to register any fatalities from the disease.

South Africa has the highest tally with 7,572 cases, while Egypt and Algeria follow with 7,201 and 4,838 cases, respectively.

The spread of the disease appears to be on a steep trajectory, as only 15,000 cases had been recorded on the continent in mid-April.


WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, himself an Ethiopian national, last month expressed concern about the ability of health care systems in developing nations to cope with a sharp increase in patients should the coronavirus take hold on the continent.

Many nations have taken a variety of mitigation measures and many have issued stay-at-home orders.