More than two months after Egypt became the first country in Africa to confirm a coronavirus case, the outbreak appears to have reached almost every nation on the continent of 1.2 billion people.
Of Africa’s 54 countries, only two have yet to report a case of the virus: Comoros and Lesotho.
As of April 27, the confirmed coronavirus death toll on the continent stood at 1,423, with fatalities including the former President of the Republic of the Congo Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango and Somalia’s former Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein. There are 31,933 confirmed infections and 9,566 recoveries, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Experts warn fragile healthcare systems in many African countries could be overwhelmed in the face of a severe outbreak of COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.