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Coronavirus pandemic

Africa’s coronavirus deaths top 1,100, reports WHO

South Africa accounts for the biggest number of infections (3,465) and 58 deaths

PRETORIA, April 22. /TASS/. The number of coronavirus-related fatalities in Africa has reached 1,171, while 24,137 people contracted the virus across the continent, the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa branch said Wednesday.

South Africa accounts for the biggest number of infections (3,465) and 58 deaths. Algeria, meanwhile, has the biggest coronavirus death toll (392) and 2,811 infections. Egypt reported 250 fatalities and 3,333 cases, while Morocco identified 3,186 and 144 deaths.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Cameroon is ranked second after South Africa with 1,163 coronavirus infections and 43 fatalities, followed by Ghana (1,042 and 9) and Ivory Coast (916 and 13).

On Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa started preparations to exit the lockdown imposed on March 26. He also announced launch a plan of social and economic assistance for population and businesses amounting to 500 billion rand ($26.3 billion). He also added that the government must stabilize the economy, preserve its structure and support social stability of society.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe.

According to the latest statistics, over 2,500,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 177,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 696,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

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