By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A total 5,720 coronavirus cases have been recorded across Africa, with 5,115 confirmed cases, 197 deaths, and 408 recovered, in the latest figures collated by Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States.
Worldwide, there are now 872,830 cases, 43,271 deaths, and 184,581 recovered. Of these are 644,978 active cases and 227,852 closed cases, according to live updates by worldmeters.info
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says the distribution of test kits from the Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy-Jack Ma & Alibaba Foundations Initiative has been completed in member states.
Africa CDC is following the validation of the new testing protocol with member states and it plans to distribute additional 40,000 tests to countries in critical need.
South Africa has the highest number of cases (1,353) but Egypt has the highest death toll (46).
The overall figures across the continent so far are as follows
| Total confirmed cases | Active confirmed cases | Recovered | Confirmed deaths | |
| Algeria | 716 | 626 | 46 | 44 |
| Angola | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Benin | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Botswana | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Burkina Faso | 261 | 215 | 32 | 14 |
| Burundi | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Cameroon | 193 | 182 | 5 | 6 |
| Cape Verde | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Central African Republic | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Chad | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Comoros | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Congo-Brazzaville | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | 98 | 88 | 2 | 8 |
| Djibouti | 30 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| Egypt | 710 | 507 | 157 | 46 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| Eritrea | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Eswatini | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Ethiopia | 26 | 24 | 2 | 0 |
| Gabon | 16 | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| Gambia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Ghana | 161 | 125 | 31 | 5 |
| Guinea | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 168 | 161 | 6 | 1 |
| Kenya | 59 | 57 | 1 | 1 |
| Lesotho | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Liberia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Libya | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Madagascar | 57 | 57 | 0 | 0 |
| Malawi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mali | 28 | 26 | 0 | 2 |
| Mauritania | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Mauritius | 143 | 138 | 0 | 5 |
| Morocco | 602 | 542 | 24 | 36 |
| Mozambique | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Namibia | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| Niger | 27 | 24 | 0 | 3 |
| Nigeria | 139 | 125 | 8 | 2 |
| Rwanda | 75 | 75 | 0 | 0 |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Senegal | 175 | 135 | 40 | 0 |
| Seychelles | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Sierra Leone | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Somalia | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| South Africa | 1,353 | 1,319 | 31 | 3 |
| South Sudan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sudan | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Tanzania | 19 | 17 | 1 | 1 |
| Togo | 34 | 23 | 10 | 1 |
| Tunisia | 362 | 349 | 3 | 10 |
| Uganda | 44 | 44 | 0 | 0 |
| Western Sahara | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zambia | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 |
| Zimbabwe | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
Source: Johns Hopkins University
Among other preventive measures, Africa CDC recommends that
- All member states enhance their surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) and carefully review any unusual patterns of SARI or pneumonia cases.
Examples of enhanced surveillance include:
- Adding questions about travel and testing for coronaviruses to existing influenza surveillance systems;
- Notifying healthcare facilities to immediately inform local public health officials about persons who meet the case definition for SARI and/or have recent travel or contact history with someone who has travelled to a country with local transmission.
- Member states that receive direct or connecting flights from affected countries should screen incoming passengers for severe respiratory illness and a history of recent travel to any country/area or territory reporting local transmission.
- Member states should be prepared to expand questions about recent travel to additional countries as the outbreak evolves.
- Notify WHO and Africa CDC immediately if suspected or confirmed cases of infection with novel coronavirus are identified. Africa CDC should be notified by emailing AfricaCDCEBS@africa-union.org.
- Provide guidance to the general public about seeking immediate medical care and informing healthcare providers about recent travel or contact history in anyone who develops symptoms of severe respiratory illness.