Covid-19 cases in Africa continue to surge, exceeds 6.5M positivity

Africa's Covid-19 cases have continued to rise in recent months as the continent braces for the fourth wave.

According to AllAfrica data, as of July 27 confirmed cases of Covid-19 from 55 African countries reached 6,502,260 while over 41,619,926 vaccinations have been administered across the continent.

Reported deaths in Africa reached 165,250 and 5,661,822 people have recovered. South Africa has the most reported cases 2,383,490 and 70,018 people died. 

Other most-affected countries are Morocco (581,477), Tunisia (573,394), Egypt (284,059), Ethiopia (278,717), Libya (236,961) and Kenya (197,959).

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said the country had "largely" passed the peak of its third coronavirus wave and eased restrictions, including a ban on alcohol sales.

The continent's worst virus-hit country went back into a partial lockdown last month to stem an unprecedented Covid-19 resurge widely attributed to the Delta variant.

Ramaphosa on Sunday said the average number of daily new infections had stood around 12,000 over the past week, a 20 percent drop from the previous week.

"The latest figures suggest that we have largely passed the peak of the third wave of infections, although there are areas in the country where we still need to be concerned," the president said in an address to the nation.

On June 15, Morocco recorded 476 cases. Just over a month later in July, the tally stood at more than 2,100. The Moroccan authorities are increasing the number of warnings because of this rise.

But so far, there has been no announcement of a return to restrictive measures.

Kenya on the other hand has recorded over 197,959 cases of Covid-19 cases with a total number of vaccinated cases standing at 1, 673,272. The East African nation is now struggling to curb the spread of the fourth wave.