Nigeria among top three as COVID-19 cases rise in Africa

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Africa increased from 46,500 to 49,000 in the past 24 hours.

The WHO Regional Office for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, gave the update on its official twitter account @WHOAFRO on Wednesday.

“There are over 49,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent, with more than 16,000 associated recoveries and 1,900 deaths.

The figures on the dashboard showed that South Africa, Algeria, and Nigeria had the highest reported cases on the list in the WHO Africa Region.

It showed that South Africa had 7,572 cases and 148 deaths followed by Algeria with 4,838 cases and 470 deaths, while Nigeria had 2,950 confirmed cases with 96 deaths.

Also, Ghana and Cameroon were number four and five on the dashboard, with 2,719 reported cases and 18 deaths while Cameroon has 2,265 with 108 deaths.

According to the dashboard, Comoros, Mauritania, Seychelles are countries with the lowest confirmed cases in the region.

It showed that Comoros had four confirmed cases with zero death, Mauritania had eight reported cases and one death, while Seychelles recorded 11 confirmed cases with zero death.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, in a twitter @MoetiTshidi emphasised the life-saving importance of handwashing to prevent COVID-19.

“COVID-19 is shining a light on inequities in access to basic services and we have an opportunity to improve access to water for vulnerable communities.

“Clean hands save lives, and safe water is essential in handwashing; together we can make access to safe water a reality for all,’’ she said.