COVID-19: South Africa takes the lead as Africa reports over 147,000 new cases in a week

Over the past week, the African Region reported over 147,000 new cases of COVID-19, which represents a 7% decrease as compared to the previous week as the region continues its decreasing trend.

This is according to the weekly epidemiological report released by the World Health Organization (WHO). The report revealed that the African region recorded its highest cases of infection in June 2021, with over 200,000 cases.

Of the 147,000 cases recorded in the past week, South Africa and Ethiopia accounted for over half (59%) of all the new cases reported in the Region with over 3800 new deaths reported in the week, a similar number to that reported during the previous week. However, there are still a number of countries reporting worrying mortality trends.

According to the report, in the past week, eight countries reported over 50% increases in weekly deaths from COVID-19. Countries like South Africa, Ethiopia and Botswana reported the three highest numbers of new cases reported in the region.

From South Africa, 76,966 new cases were reported, representing a 9% decrease from cases in the previous week. Ethiopia, on the other hand, reported the second-highest number from an African country with 10,058 new cases to represent a 61% increase, while Botswana reported a total of 7,332 new cases which is a 24% decrease from cases reported in the previous week.

Meanwhile, the highest numbers of deaths related to the virus were reported from South Africa with 2,210 new deaths; 227 Covid-19 related deaths from Kenya during the week and Algeria, reporting a total of 195 new covid-19 related deaths.