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Africa’s COVID-19 Recoveries Cross One Million Mark

    Advertisement The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa is yielding positive result as over one million persons have recovered from the disease in … Continue reading Africa’s COVID-19 Recoveries Cross One Million Mark


File photo: Customers stand in a queue outside Makro in Pretoria East on March 24, 2020. – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on March 23, 2020 announced a 21-day national lockdown to start later this week to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus which has affected more than 400 people and ordered the military to enforce the ban. Phill Magakoe / AFP.
File photo: A man sprays commuters with hand sanitiser as a preventive measure at Wanderers taxi rank in Johannesburg CBD, on March 18, 2020. Michele Spatari / AFP.

 

 

The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa is yielding positive result as over one million persons have recovered from the disease in the continent. 

Out of the 1,260,400 persons that have contracted the disease, according to the Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC), 1,001,581 have recovered.

A further peep into the data from the Africa CDC shows that 30,065 have, however, died due to complications from the pandemic.

Five countries, the Africa Union (AU) agency said, contribute to 70 per cent of the COVID-19 cases on the continent.  They are South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

South Africa with over 630,000 confirmed cases account for half of Africa’s infections from the pandemic, the agency said.

As of Wednesday evening, Egypt has reported the second-highest number of infections on the continent so far – 99,115 cases –  with 5,440 deaths from the disease.

With over 54,000 cases, Nigeria has the third highest infections from COVID-19 and 1,027 deaths also confirmed, the Africa CDC said.

 

A graph showing Nigeria’s COVID-19 infections. Channels TV/Benjamin Oluwatoyin.

 

Southern Africa region remains the most infected and is trailed by northern Africa, and western Africa regions, according to the Africa CDC.

Potential Vaccine 

As the battle to combat the pandemic gathers momentum across the world, President Donald Trump’s government has urged US states to get ready to distribute a potential COVID-19 vaccine by November 1 — two days before the presidential election.

Dallas-based wholesaler McKesson Corp. has a deal with the federal government and will be requesting permits to set up distribution centres when a vaccine becomes available.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event about regulatory reform on the South Lawn of the White House on July 16, 2020 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP
File photo: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event about regulatory reform on the South Lawn of the White House on July 16, 2020, in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images/AFP

 

“The normal time required to obtain these permits presents a significant barrier to the success of this urgent public health program,” Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told states in an August 27 letter.

“CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities.”

Redfield asked states to consider waiving requirements that would “prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by Nov. 1, 2020.”