The number of deaths caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the African continent in the last 24 hours was 350 and a further 10,848 people were recorded as infected, with 881,495 declared as recovered, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of the African Union (Africa CDC), which gathers the most recent data from official reports from the 55 member countries of the organisation.
The highest number of cases and deaths of covid-19 continues to occur in southern Africa, with 637,824 infected and 13,476 fatalities.
In this region, South Africa, the most affected country on the continent, accounts for 599,940 infected patients and 12,618 deaths.
North Africa, the second most affected area by the pandemic, now has 204,225 people infected and 7783 dead and in West Africa the number of cases has risen to 152,435 and the number of deaths to 2296.
In the East African region, the number of covid-19 cases is now 111,301 and 2392 deaths and in Central Africa 52,432 cases of infection and 1021 deaths are counted this Friday.
Egypt is the second country with more deaths, after South Africa, with 97,025 infected and 5212 deaths, followed by Algeria, with 40,702 cases and 1398 deaths.
Among the five countries most affected are also Nigeria, with 50,964 infected and 992 deaths, and Sudan, with 12,582 cases and 812 deaths.
Among Portuguese-speaking African countries, Cape Verde leads in number of cases (with 3368 cases and 37 deaths), followed by Mozambique (3115 cases and 20 deaths), Guinea-Bissau (2149 cases and 33 deaths), Angola (2044 infected and 93 deaths) and São Tomé and Príncipe (888 cases and 15 deaths).
Equatorial Guinea, which is part of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), has 4892 infected and 83 deaths, a figure released by the Equato-Guinean authorities on 1 August.
The first case of covid-19 in Africa emerged in Egypt on 14 February and Nigeria was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to register cases of infection on 28 February.
The covid-19 pandemic has claimed at least 793,847 lives, including 1792 in Portugal, and infected more than 22.7 million people in 196 countries and territories, according to a report by the French agency AFP.
