Africa COVID-19 tally exceeds 1.68 lakh cases, toll over 4,700

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 168,464 and at least 4,700 people have died due to the infection, World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 168,464 and at least 4,700 people have died due to the infection, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. "Over 168,464 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent -- with more than 73,000 recoveries and 4,700 deaths," the WHO office for the African Region tweeted.

Most cases in the region were detected in South Africa with 40,792, Egypt with 28,615, and Nigeria with 11,516. Egypt, South Africa, and Algeria account for the highest number of related fatalities with 1,088, 848, and 681 deaths, respectively. In May, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Africa was the least affected region in the world in terms of COVID-19 cases and deaths, noting that the continent had 1.5 percent of the world's reported infections and less than 0.1 percent of the global deaths.