South Africa confirmed that Covid-19 cases exceed 1 million

South Africa has become the first African nation to register one million cases of coronavirus, according to new data published by the country’s Ministry of Health on Sunday.

A second wave of infections is currently suffering, the majority of which is a new variant of coronavirus, South Africa is the hardest hit country on the African continent, with 1,044,413 infections and 26,735 deaths, the data shows.

As of 1900 GMT, a total of 2,658,646 cases were registered in Africa and 62,649 deaths, according to an AFP figure.

Last week, South Africa registered a daily average of 11,700 new infections, an increase of 39 percent compared to the previous week.

For three days in a row, from Wednesday to Friday, the daily number of new cases peaked at 14,000, but fell sharply again on Saturday and Sunday.

Authorities are considering reintroducing restrictions to limit the spread of the virus, and President Cyril Ramaphosa may provide a TV address later this week.

Morocco is the second hardest-hit African country, with 432,079 cases and 7,240 deaths, followed by Egypt with 131,315 deaths and 7,352 deaths, Tunisia with 130,230 infections and 4,426 deaths and Ethiopia with 122,413 and 1,901, respectively.

Africa has not been affected as much by the coronavirus as other regions, such as Europe with more than 25 million infections, the United States with 19.5 million, Latin America and the Caribbean with 15 million, Asia with 13.7 million and the Middle East with close to four million.

(AFP)