Africa's coronavirus cases surpass 800,000

Africa’s total number of confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed 800,000.

That’s according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

South Africa has well over half the reported cases on the 54-nation continent, but infections are now climbing rapidly in other countries including Kenya, East Africa’s economic hub, with more than 16,000.

Africa was a major concern even before the first case was reported on the continent on Feb. 14, as the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global health emergency in January cited the threat to fragile health care systems.

Africa’s are the least-equipped in the world, and health experts have warned the virus could “smoulder” in parts of the continent for a long time. Africa now has 810,008 confirmed cases.

Worldwide, a total of 638,352 deaths and 15,672,841 cases have been reported, according to data compiled from government announcements by Johns Hopkins University.

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