PRETORIA, May 14. /TASS/. The number of coronavirus cases in African countries has reached 72,379, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa said on Thursday.

A total of 3,253 cases were identified in the past 24 hours. Africa’s COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 2,480.

South Africa has the highest number of coronavirus cases (12,074), with the country's death toll standing at 219. Egypt, where 10,431 people have been infected, accounts for the majority of deaths (556). Algeria has reported 6,253 cases and 522 deaths; Morocco has recorded 6,466 coronavirus patients and 188 deaths; and Djibouti has so far confirmed 1,268 cases and three deaths.

In the sub-Saharan region, Ghana has reported 5,408 cases and 24 fatalities. The country is followed by Nigeria (4,971 cases and 164 deaths), Cameroon (2,800 cases and 136 deaths), Guinea (2,372 cases and 14 deaths), Senegal (2,105 cases and 22 deaths) Ivory Coast (1,912 cases and 24 deaths), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1,242 cases and 50 deaths).

Coronavirus pandemic

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.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 4,442,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 298,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,668,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.