Africa's COVID-19 cases reach almost 4.7 million

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 4,692, 520 on Monday, while deaths hit 126,447, according to data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Africa's cases account for 3 percent of the global figure while deaths account for 4 percent, an indication that the pandemic has spared the continent, whose health system is fragile compared to other parts of the world.

Notably, even though the total number of confirmed cases has been increasing, the number of new cases has been decreasing over the past three days, amid the spread of new coronavirus variants, as some countries start bending the infection curve.

On Saturday, the total number of new cases reported across the continent was 6,691, while new deaths stood at 211. On Monday, the figure fell to 5,858 new cases and 142 new deaths.

The southern Africa region leads in the number of total cases and deaths with 2,012,752 cases and 63, 164 deaths as of Monday, followed by the northern region with 1,413,822 cases and 42, 239 deaths, eastern region with 631,780 cases and 12,235 deaths, and western region with 467,223 cases and 6,168 deaths.

The central Africa region has recorded the lowest number of cases and deaths, standing at 166,943 and 2,641 respectively.

Of the 9 AU member states that make up the central African region, Cameroon has recorded the highest number of cases standing at 74,946 cases. Sao Tome and Principe has recorded the lowest number of cases in the region with 2,327 cases, while Burundi has recorded the lowest number of deaths, with six as of Monday.

South Africa has so far recorded the highest number of infections and deaths across the continent with 1,613,728 cases and 55,210 deaths as of Monday. Lesotho has reported the lowest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the southern Africa region with 10,790 cases and 320 deaths.

In the northern Africa region, Morocco has reported the highest number of cases with 514,944 cases while Egypt has recorded the highest number of deaths with 14,327 deaths as of Monday. Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has reported the lowest number of cases and deaths, standing at 732 and 42 respectively.

Ethiopia has reported the highest number of cases and deaths in the eastern Africa region, standing at 266, 264 and 3,996 respectively, as of Monday. Mauritius has reported the lowest number of cases in the region with 1,287 cases, while Eritrea has reported 12 deaths, the lowest in the region.

In the western Africa region, Nigeria is the only country with over 100,000 cases, having reported 165, 702 cases and 2,066 deaths as of Monday. Liberia has reported the lowest number of cases in the region standing at 2,114, while Guinea Bissau with 67 deaths has recorded the lowest figure in the region.

To date, more than 45 million COVID-19 tests, have been conducted in the African Union member states which has an estimated population of 1.3 billion people.

Over 38 million vaccine doses have been acquired by member states, with approximately 22.4 million doses having been administered, translating to 1.48 percent coverage of the entire population.

Additionally, only 0.4 percent of the population has received a full vaccine regimen.