By Jerry Omondi
The number of COVID-19 infections in Africa reached 5,919,408 on Sunday as deaths hit 151,232, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
The continent continues to see a steady spread of the virus, with some countries battling a third wave.
South Africa remains to be the hardest-hit country of the continent with 2,179,297 cases and 64,138 fatalities.
The country’s total caseload dwarfs the continent’s second-highest infections tally of 541,405 reported by Morocco.
Besides the two, four other countries on the continent have registered more than 200,000 COVID-19 cases; Tunisia (491,021), Egypt (282,985), Ethiopia (276,984) and Libya (201,236).
Many countries in Africa have rolled out mass vaccination drives to contain the spread of the virus, even though the uptake of the vital jabs remains in the shadow of the tallies recorded in other regions globally.
Besides vaccinations, various government containment measures have been introduced, including lockdowns, nighttime curfews, bans on large public gatherings and the mandatory wearing of face coverings.
According to the Africa CDC figures, some 5,155,452 people have successfully recovered from the disease on the continent.