ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed cases in the African continent has reached 1,696,286, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Saturday.
The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the death toll related to the pandemic now stood at 40,922 as of Saturday afternoon.
A total of 1,394,094 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent, the Africa CDC said.
The most 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.
The Northern Africa region is the second most COVID-19-affected African region, according to the Africa CDC.
South Africa currently has the most COVID-19 cases, which hit 712, 412. The country also has the highest number of deaths related to COVID-19, at 18,891.
Morocco came next with 190,416 confirmed cases and 3,205 deaths, followed by Egypt with 106,230 confirmed cases and 6,176 deaths, Africa CDC said.