Update on the ongoing Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Global Epidemic, Brief #23

Outbreak Update: Since the last brief (16 June 2020), 1,037,856 new confirmed1 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and 34,192 new deaths have been reported globally. To date, a total of 8,871,099 COVID-19 cases and 465,987 (CFR: 5.3%) related deaths have been reported from 215 countries and territories. No new country or territory is reporting cases or deaths for the first time this week. The distribution of cumulative cases (proportion of global cases %) from the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting regions (excluding Africa) are as follows: Eastern Mediterranean Region 831,639 (9%), European Region 2,543,778 (29%), Region of the Americas 4,370,519 (49%), South-East Asia Region 600,191 (7%) and Western Pacific Region 206,652 (2%). For more detailed information on cases and deaths being reported outside of Africa, refer to the WHO daily situation reports.

As of 9 am EAT 23 June 2020, a total of 315,410 COVID-19 cases and 8,334 (CFR: 2.7%) deaths have been reported in 54 African countries. This is 3.6% of all cases reported globally. Since the last brief (16 June 2020), 63,544 new COVID-19 cases have been reported, which is a 25% increase compared to the 16 June 2020 report. The proportion of new COVID-19 cases reported by region is as follows: Southern region 45% (28,835), Northern region 22% (13,775), Western region 17% (11,018), Central region 8% (5,357) and Eastern region 7% (4,559). The highest number of new COVID-19 cases reported in a single day was recorded on 20 June 2020 with 10,758 new COVID-19 cases reported. The average daily new cases reported this week is 9,078.

Ten countries account for 86% of the new COVID-19 cases reported since the last brief: South Africa (44%), Egypt (17%), Nigeria (7%), Côte d’Ivoire (4%), Ghana (3%), Cameroon (3%), Ethiopia (2%), Kenya (2%), Morocco (2%) and Sudan (2%). Djibouti (465), Sao Tome and Principe (320), Gabon (213), South Africa (171) and Cabo Verde (170) are reporting the most cumulative COVID-19 cases per 100,000 in Africa. Seven countries are reporting case fatality rates comparable to or higher than the global case fatality rate of 5.3%. These are: Chad (8.6%), Algeria (7.1%), Niger (6.4%), Sudan (6.1%), Burkina Faso (5.8%), Mali (5.7%), and Angola (5.4%).