Africa's confirmed Covid cases pass 3.62 million

Addis Ababa: The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on the African continent has reached 3,626,960, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

According to the continental disease control and prevention agency's Covid-19 dashboard, the death toll related to the pandemic in Africa stood at 93,647 as of Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

A total of 3,128,534 people infected with Covid-19 have recovered across the continent so far, the African Union (AU) Commission's healthcare agency disclosed.

The Southern Africa region is the most affected area in Africa in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases, followed by the Northern Africa region, according to the agency.

The most affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, said the Africa CDC.

South Africa has reported the highest Covid-19-inflicted deaths in Africa, at 45,605 as of Friday, according to the Africa CDC.

Meanwhile, the AU has emphasised that Covid-19 vaccination should take place "in all countries and among all populations" to realize global containment of the pandemic.

"The most important public health measure to prevent Covid-19 is vaccine. For the past year, efforts have been underway to find vaccines that are both safe, affordable and effective," Naledi Pandor, Chairperson of the AU Executive Council who is also Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, said during the 38th ordinary session of the AU Executive Council on Wednesday.

Pandor stressed that "all countries must get vaccines and must get them speedily. It is vital to the global containment of Covid-19 that vaccination takes place in all countries and among all populations".