By Jerry Omondi
The number of COVID-19 cases in Africa neared the 8.87 million mark on Sunday as parts of the continent battle to subdue fresh waves of infections.
According to data published by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the continent had recorded 8,869,574 cases by Sunday afternoon, with 224,609 deaths.
South Africa remains to be the hardest-hit country by the pandemic in Africa, having registered 3,129,622 cases with 90,116 fatalities.
No other country has reported infections topping one million.
Morocco’s 951,380 are the second-highest in Africa, followed by Tunisia’s 719,434.
The latter has also reported the second-highest virus-related death toll in Africa; 25,427.
The continent is on high alert following the emergence of the Omicron variant, which was first reported in South Africa on 24 November.
The strain has since been detected in nearly 60 countries globally.
Most African nations are currently undertaking nationwide vaccination drives in efforts to protect their populations.