People wearing face masks wait outside a visa center in Johannesburg, South Africa, March 19, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)
A total of 795 COVID-19 cases have been reported in 36 African countries so far, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) disclosed on Friday.
The Africa CDC, in its latest situation update issued on Friday, also revealed that the death count in Africa is currently 19 from five countries, among which Algeria 8, Egypt 7, Morocco 2, Burkina Faso and Sudan one each.
Among the highly affected African countries also include Egypt 256, South Africa 150, Algeria 82, Senegal 38, as well as Tunisia 39, according to the Africa CDC.
The latest COVID-19 situation update from the Africa CDC also reported more than 150 new cases in a single day since the center's previous report on Thursday. The Africa CDC had on Thursday morning reported some 640 COVID-19 confirmed cases coming from 34 African countries.
John Nkengasong, Africa CDC Director, told a press conference on Thursday that the Africa CDC is focusing on a three-pillar strategy to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the continent.
"Our first strategy is aimed at prevention, the second pillar of strategy is preventing death and the third pillar is preventing social harm," he said.
Nkengasong also said Africa CDC is facilitating mass testing across the continent as part of a comprehensive plan to fight the spread of the virus.
"By next Monday we would have rolled out 60,000 tests to African countries," the Africa CDC director said, adding "our continental strategy is aimed at three key things: cooperation, collaboration and communication across member states."
The African Union, through its specialized healthcare agency Africa CDC, has already activated its Emergency Operations Center and its Incident Management System (IMS) for the COVID-19 outbreak on January 27.
The Africa CDC had also developed its third Incident Action Plan that covers the period from March 16 to April 15.
