ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The total number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases in Africa has reached 1,437,072 as of Friday with the death toll passing the 35,000 mark, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the death toll due to illnesses related to COVID-19 in Africa has reached 35,007 as of Friday.
The Africa CDC also said the number of people who have recovered from the infectious virus across the continent has reached 1,184, 645 so far.
Amid the uneven impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on African countries, the Africa CDC also disclosed that the most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
The Southern Africa region is the most COVID-19 affected region both in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases as well as the number of deaths, it was noted.
The Northern Africa region is the second most COVID-19-affected African region, it was noted.
Five countries account for 71 percent of total COVID-19 cases in the continent: South Africa at 47 percent, followed by Morocco at eight percent, with Egypt coming third at seven percent.
Ethiopia and Nigeria round up the top five most COVID-19 affected countries list with five percent and four percent each.
South Africa currently has the most COVID-19 cases, which hit 667, 049. The country also has the highest number of deaths related to COVID-19 at 16,283.
The continent's total COVID-19 cases represent about 4.5 percent of the global tally, according to the Africa CDC.
The Africa CDC also said 10 African countries are reporting fatality rates higher than the global case fatality rate of 3.1 percent.
These African countries include Chad, Liberia, Niger, Egypt, Mali, Angola, Algeria and Sudan. The average continental fatality rate is currently around 2.4 percent.
According to the latest figures from the continental disease control and prevention agency, some 17 African countries and regions are under full border closure due to concerns related to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Africa, while closure of country-wide educational institutions has been activated across 33 African countries in an effort to halt the spread of the infectious virus.
Amid the increasing number of COVID-19 cases across the African continent, the adverse impacts of the pandemic are affecting the continent across various sectors in addition to the healthcare and socioeconomic sectors. Enditem
