PRETORIA, August 24. /TASS/. The total number of coronavirus cases in African countries rose by 10,889 to 1,178,737 in the past day, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa said on Monday

According to the WHO, Africa’s coronavirus recoveries have reached 899,00 and the death toll has climbed to 27,601.

South Africa accounts for the majority of cases (607,045) and fatalities (12,987). Egypt has so far reported 97,237 cases and 5,243 deaths. The coronavirus death toll stands at 1,424 in Algeria.

In the sub-Saharan region, Nigeria has confirmed 51,905 coronavirus cases and 997 deaths, Ghana has recorded 43,325 cases and 261 deaths.

Coronavirus pandemic

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed 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, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.