COVID-19 cases in Africa surpass 1.7M

The number of infections of the novel coronavirus in Africa has crossed 1.71 million, says an update released by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday.

The number of fatalities crossed 41,262 across the continent while over 1.4 million people have recovered.

Of the five geographical regions on the continent, Southern Africa is shown to be the hardest hit with 792,600 cases and 20,400 deaths.

The region, however, by far leads in the number of recoveries which now stands at 705,500.

North Africa recorded 472,400 cases, East Africa 204,700, West Africa 187,400 and Central Africa 59,800, according to the figures.

Meanwhile, Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and one of the five hardest-hit countries on the continent, confirmed until Sunday some 61,992 cases, 57,465 recoveries and 1,130 deaths due to the pandemic.