Coronavirus kills 700 Africans, cases in Ghana surge to 408

The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in Africa surpassed 700 on Saturday, the Africa CDC said.

Confirmed positive cases also rose to 13,145 from 52 African countries.

Cases in Ghana surged to 408.

In its update today, Africa CDC said 653 new cases were recorded in the continent in the past 24 hours.

South Africa led with 2,028 confirmed cases and 25 deaths.

Egypt has 1,794 cases, Algeria 1,761 and Morocco 1,527.

Ahmed Ogwell, Deputy Director of Africa CDC said 2,171 people recovered.

Meanwhile, Ghana Health Service (GHS) logged 30 new cases on Saturday, taking the total to 408.

While four persons were discharged, eight died.

GHS said its intensive contact tracing and laboratory testing led to the explosion in cases.

“These measures have resulted in a sudden increase in case detection, with a high number of cases being reported,” GHS said.