The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African continent has reached 2,026,841, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Friday.
The death toll related to the pandemic stood at 48,681, the continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement.
A total of 1,714,395 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent.
The most affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Ethiopia.
Southern Africa is the hardest hit African region both in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases as well as the number of deaths, followed by northern Africa, according to the Africa CDC.
South Africa currently has the most COVID-19 cases, at 759,658. The country also has the highest number of deaths related to COVID-19, at 20,671.
Morocco comes next with 311,554 confirmed cases and 5,090 deaths, followed by Egypt with 111,955 confirmed cases and 6,508 deaths, Africa CDC said.
South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Tunisia account for approximately 68 per cent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in the continent.
Countries reporting the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over the past seven days in Africa include Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Cabo Verde, and South Africa.
According to the Africa CDC, from the 55 members of the AU that are reporting COVID-19 epidemiologic data, 16 report case fatality rates higher than the global rate of 2.4 per cent.
They include Chad, Sudan, Liberia, Niger, Egypt, Mali, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Gambia and Tunisia.
Africa’s average fatality rate is around 2.4 per cent.
The continent’s total COVID-19 cases represent about 3.6 per cent of the global tally, according to Africa CDC.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended on Friday that the anti-viral drug remdesivir should not be used for hospitalised COVID-19 patients, arguing that trials had failed to prove that the treatment is effective.
WHO chief clinician Janet Diaz told a press conference from Geneva that there was no clear evidence that the use of remdesivir reduced the risk of death or the need for oxygen support.
Diaz said there was no clear effect on the pace of recovery among trial patients.
The WHO said in a statement that the possibility that remdesivir causes harm could also not be ruled out.
In addition, there are “relatively high cost and resource implications associated with remdesivir,” the WHO argued, pointing out that the drug must be injected into the bloodstream.
The WHO had already published interim trial results in the middle of October that pointed to the drug’s lack of effectiveness.
However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally approved remdesivir, a therapeutic made by U.S. company Gilead Sciences, in October.
The drug has also won EU approval for severe cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Anti-inflammatory steroids such as dexamethasone are the only known effective drugs for severely ill Covid-19 patients.
“Right now we have one life-saving therapy,’’ Diaz said, stressing that the WHO has been strongly recommending steroids.
She added that use of oxygen, advanced respiratory therapies and good intensive care have also proven to be effective in helping patients survive. (dpa/NAN)
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