Coronavirus: How Fast Is It Spreading In Africa?
By Peter Mwai and Christopher Giles
BBC Reality Check
Africa is seeing coronavirus cases rapidly increasing and deaths rising, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
We've looked at the situation across the continent, and examined which countries are of most concern.
How fast is coronavirus spreading?
In terms of overall numbers, Africa currently accounts for only a small proportion of total global cases, but the acceleration in rates of infection in some countries is of increasing concern to health authorities in the region.
While it took nearly 100 days for Africa to reach an initial 100,000 cases, it took only 18 days for that to double to 200,000. It doubled again to 400,000 cases over the next 20 days.
The upward trend in Africa is starting to resemble other parts of the world that have been badly hit by the coronavirus. Most African countries are now experiencing community transmission, according to the WHO.
This is when a person gets Covid-19 without having been in contact with a known case from abroad or a confirmed domestic case, which makes it hard for for the authorities to track down the source of a local outbreak.
Where are Africa's hotspots?
The two countries with the highest numbers of cases are South Africa and Egypt. They accounted for over 60% of all the new cases reported in late June.
South Africa has the highest recorded number of total cases, while Egypt has the largest number of recorded coronavirus deaths.
South Africa, which imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns in late March, has seen cases rise steadily after this was relaxed in early May.
The Western Cape province (where Cape Town is located), accounts for nearly half of all cases in the country and more than half of the deaths. But cases are steadily rising in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg.
Egypt has seen case numbers rising rapidly since mid-May, but there are indications that this may now have reached a peak with recorded new infections levelling off slightly in early July.
There is also concern about what is happening in Nigeria, which recorded the second-highest increase in deaths from Covid-19 after South Africa in the WHO report for 1 July.
Coronavirus mapped
Zoom to
Africa
Show
419,812
cases
8,273
deaths
2,900,000290,000
Circles show number of confirmed coronavirus cases per country.
Source: Johns Hopkins University, national public health agencies
Figures last updated 7 July 2020, 08:59 BST
Note: Data for Egypt can be found by selecting the Middle East region from the drop-down menu in both the map and country table below.
Mauritania has also seen a steep increase in cases in recent weeks.
It's worth stressing that parts of the continent have seen relatively few cases, such as some areas of East Africa.
In fact, the latest WHO Africa region report said just 10 countries accounted for more than 80% of all the reported cases on the continent.
How many people are dying in Africa?
The reported death rate per capita has been low compared to other parts of the world, despite the poor health infrastructure in many African countries.
Coronavirus
data in detail
Scroll table to see more data
*Deaths per 100,000 people
Filter:
Africa
Country
Deaths
Death rate*
Total Cases
New Cases
0
10
100
1k
5k
**
South Africa 3,310 5.7 205,721
24 JAN
06 JUL
Algeria 959 2.3 16,404
Nigeria 654 0.3 29,286
Sudan 616 1.5 9,894
Cameroon 359 1.4 14,916
Morocco 237 0.7 14,379
DR Congo 182 0.2 7,432
Kenya 164 0.3 8,067
Senegal 136 0.9 7,478
Mauritania 133 3.0 4,948
Ghana 129 0.4 21,077
Mali 119 0.6 2,331
Ethiopia 103 0.1 5,846
Somalia 92 0.6 3,006
Ivory Coast 75 0.3 10,966
Chad 74 0.5 872
Niger 68 0.3 1,093
Sierra Leone 62 0.8 1,547
Djibouti 55 5.7 4,822
Burkina Faso 53 0.3 1,000
Central African Republic 52 1.1 4,033
Equatorial Guinea 51 3.9 3,071
Tunisia 50 0.4 1,199
Gabon 46 2.2 5,743
Congo 44 0.8 1,557
Liberia 39 0.8 891
South Sudan 38 0.3 2,021
Guinea 34 0.3 5,610
Mayotte 34 13.1 2,679
Libya 34 0.5 1,117
Madagascar 33 0.1 3,250
Zambia 30 0.2 1,632
Guinea-Bissau 25 1.3 1,790
Benin 21 0.2 1,199
Tanzania 21 0.0 509
Malawi 19 0.1 1,742
Angola 19 0.1 346
Cape Verde 17 3.1 1,463
Togo 15 0.2 680
Eswatini 13 1.1 1,011
Sao Tome and Principe 13 6.2 721
Mauritius 10 0.8 342
Zimbabwe 9 0.1 734
Mozambique 8 0.0 1,012
Comoros 7 0.8 311
Rwanda 3 0.0 1,113
Gambia 3 0.1 61
Réunion 2 0.2 550
Botswana 1 0.0 314
Burundi 1 0.0 191
Western Sahara 1 0.2 10
Uganda 0 0.0 953
Namibia 0 0.0 485
Eritrea 0 0.0 215
Lesotho 0 0.0 91
Seychelles 0 0.0 81
Show more
This information is regularly updated but may not reflect the latest totals for each country.
** The past data for new cases is a three day rolling average. Due to revisions in the number of cases, an average cannot be calculated for this date.
Source: Johns Hopkins University, national public health agencies and UN population data
Figures last updated: 7 July 2020, 08:59 BST
The WHO says this could be partly because of the relatively young population in Africa - more than 60% under the age of 25. Covid-19 is known to have a higher mortality rate for older age groups.
Another way to look at death rates is to see what proportion of people who get Covid-19 go on to die.
On this basis, there are five countries with death rates that are comparable to or higher than the most recent global average rate of just under 5%:
Chad (8.5%)
Algeria (6.6%)
Niger (6.2%)
Burkina Faso (5.5%)
Mali (5.3)
But Githinji Gitahi, the head of Amref Health Africa, an NGO which specialises in health matters, says the higher rates could be an indication of much higher infection levels than those being recorded, and that it could be down to low levels of testing.
The fewer tests you carry out, the fewer cases you find, and so the number of deaths appears relatively high.
Different methods of reporting deaths may also affect the number.
For example, where community health workers and other frontline staff record Covid-19 deaths, such as in Chad, you could get a higher death rate.
Ten countries account for about 80% of the total tests conducted - South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mauritius, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.
There are wide variations in testing rates, with South Africa doing the most and Nigeria doing relatively few, according to Our World in Data, a UK-based project which collates Covid-19 information.
On 4 July, South Africa was doing just over 30 tests per 1,000 people, compared with 72 in the UK and 105 in the US.
Nigeria is achieving 0.7 tests per 1,000 people, Ghana 10 and Kenya 3.
It's worth pointing out that for some African countries, it is impossible to know what exactly is happening due to a lack of any data or data being incomplete.
"We have to take the numbers with a pinch of salt," says Chiedo Nwankwor, a lecturer in African affairs at Johns Hopkins University in the US.
In Tanzania, President John Magufuli has voiced doubts about the validity of virus testing results at the national laboratory, and has allowed only limited data on infection rates and testing to be made public.
Equatorial Guinea had a row with the WHO after accusing its country representative of inflating the number of Covid-19 cases. For a while it held back its data, but has now started sharing it again.
And in Kano state in northern Nigeria, an unusual spike of close to 1,000 deaths was reported in late April, but the government has not still confirmed how many were due to Covid-19.
Note: The graphics in this page use a different source for figures for France from that used by Johns Hopkins University, which results in a slightly lower overall total. US figures do not include Puerto Rico, Guam or the US Virgin Islands.
BBC Reality Check
Africa is seeing coronavirus cases rapidly increasing and deaths rising, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
We've looked at the situation across the continent, and examined which countries are of most concern.
How fast is coronavirus spreading?
In terms of overall numbers, Africa currently accounts for only a small proportion of total global cases, but the acceleration in rates of infection in some countries is of increasing concern to health authorities in the region.
While it took nearly 100 days for Africa to reach an initial 100,000 cases, it took only 18 days for that to double to 200,000. It doubled again to 400,000 cases over the next 20 days.
The upward trend in Africa is starting to resemble other parts of the world that have been badly hit by the coronavirus. Most African countries are now experiencing community transmission, according to the WHO.
This is when a person gets Covid-19 without having been in contact with a known case from abroad or a confirmed domestic case, which makes it hard for for the authorities to track down the source of a local outbreak.
Where are Africa's hotspots?
The two countries with the highest numbers of cases are South Africa and Egypt. They accounted for over 60% of all the new cases reported in late June.
South Africa has the highest recorded number of total cases, while Egypt has the largest number of recorded coronavirus deaths.
South Africa, which imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns in late March, has seen cases rise steadily after this was relaxed in early May.
The Western Cape province (where Cape Town is located), accounts for nearly half of all cases in the country and more than half of the deaths. But cases are steadily rising in Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg.
Egypt has seen case numbers rising rapidly since mid-May, but there are indications that this may now have reached a peak with recorded new infections levelling off slightly in early July.
There is also concern about what is happening in Nigeria, which recorded the second-highest increase in deaths from Covid-19 after South Africa in the WHO report for 1 July.
Coronavirus mapped
Zoom to
Africa
Show
419,812
cases
8,273
deaths
2,900,000290,000
Circles show number of confirmed coronavirus cases per country.
Source: Johns Hopkins University, national public health agencies
Figures last updated 7 July 2020, 08:59 BST
Note: Data for Egypt can be found by selecting the Middle East region from the drop-down menu in both the map and country table below.
Mauritania has also seen a steep increase in cases in recent weeks.
It's worth stressing that parts of the continent have seen relatively few cases, such as some areas of East Africa.
In fact, the latest WHO Africa region report said just 10 countries accounted for more than 80% of all the reported cases on the continent.
How many people are dying in Africa?
The reported death rate per capita has been low compared to other parts of the world, despite the poor health infrastructure in many African countries.
Coronavirus
data in detail
Scroll table to see more data
*Deaths per 100,000 people
Filter:
Africa
Country
Deaths
Death rate*
Total Cases
New Cases
0
10
100
1k
5k
**
South Africa 3,310 5.7 205,721
24 JAN
06 JUL
Algeria 959 2.3 16,404
Nigeria 654 0.3 29,286
Sudan 616 1.5 9,894
Cameroon 359 1.4 14,916
Morocco 237 0.7 14,379
DR Congo 182 0.2 7,432
Kenya 164 0.3 8,067
Senegal 136 0.9 7,478
Mauritania 133 3.0 4,948
Ghana 129 0.4 21,077
Mali 119 0.6 2,331
Ethiopia 103 0.1 5,846
Somalia 92 0.6 3,006
Ivory Coast 75 0.3 10,966
Chad 74 0.5 872
Niger 68 0.3 1,093
Sierra Leone 62 0.8 1,547
Djibouti 55 5.7 4,822
Burkina Faso 53 0.3 1,000
Central African Republic 52 1.1 4,033
Equatorial Guinea 51 3.9 3,071
Tunisia 50 0.4 1,199
Gabon 46 2.2 5,743
Congo 44 0.8 1,557
Liberia 39 0.8 891
South Sudan 38 0.3 2,021
Guinea 34 0.3 5,610
Mayotte 34 13.1 2,679
Libya 34 0.5 1,117
Madagascar 33 0.1 3,250
Zambia 30 0.2 1,632
Guinea-Bissau 25 1.3 1,790
Benin 21 0.2 1,199
Tanzania 21 0.0 509
Malawi 19 0.1 1,742
Angola 19 0.1 346
Cape Verde 17 3.1 1,463
Togo 15 0.2 680
Eswatini 13 1.1 1,011
Sao Tome and Principe 13 6.2 721
Mauritius 10 0.8 342
Zimbabwe 9 0.1 734
Mozambique 8 0.0 1,012
Comoros 7 0.8 311
Rwanda 3 0.0 1,113
Gambia 3 0.1 61
Réunion 2 0.2 550
Botswana 1 0.0 314
Burundi 1 0.0 191
Western Sahara 1 0.2 10
Uganda 0 0.0 953
Namibia 0 0.0 485
Eritrea 0 0.0 215
Lesotho 0 0.0 91
Seychelles 0 0.0 81
Show more
This information is regularly updated but may not reflect the latest totals for each country.
** The past data for new cases is a three day rolling average. Due to revisions in the number of cases, an average cannot be calculated for this date.
Source: Johns Hopkins University, national public health agencies and UN population data
Figures last updated: 7 July 2020, 08:59 BST
The WHO says this could be partly because of the relatively young population in Africa - more than 60% under the age of 25. Covid-19 is known to have a higher mortality rate for older age groups.
Another way to look at death rates is to see what proportion of people who get Covid-19 go on to die.
On this basis, there are five countries with death rates that are comparable to or higher than the most recent global average rate of just under 5%:
Chad (8.5%)
Algeria (6.6%)
Niger (6.2%)
Burkina Faso (5.5%)
Mali (5.3)
But Githinji Gitahi, the head of Amref Health Africa, an NGO which specialises in health matters, says the higher rates could be an indication of much higher infection levels than those being recorded, and that it could be down to low levels of testing.
The fewer tests you carry out, the fewer cases you find, and so the number of deaths appears relatively high.
Different methods of reporting deaths may also affect the number.
For example, where community health workers and other frontline staff record Covid-19 deaths, such as in Chad, you could get a higher death rate.
Ten countries account for about 80% of the total tests conducted - South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mauritius, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.
There are wide variations in testing rates, with South Africa doing the most and Nigeria doing relatively few, according to Our World in Data, a UK-based project which collates Covid-19 information.
On 4 July, South Africa was doing just over 30 tests per 1,000 people, compared with 72 in the UK and 105 in the US.
Nigeria is achieving 0.7 tests per 1,000 people, Ghana 10 and Kenya 3.
It's worth pointing out that for some African countries, it is impossible to know what exactly is happening due to a lack of any data or data being incomplete.
"We have to take the numbers with a pinch of salt," says Chiedo Nwankwor, a lecturer in African affairs at Johns Hopkins University in the US.
In Tanzania, President John Magufuli has voiced doubts about the validity of virus testing results at the national laboratory, and has allowed only limited data on infection rates and testing to be made public.
Equatorial Guinea had a row with the WHO after accusing its country representative of inflating the number of Covid-19 cases. For a while it held back its data, but has now started sharing it again.
And in Kano state in northern Nigeria, an unusual spike of close to 1,000 deaths was reported in late April, but the government has not still confirmed how many were due to Covid-19.
Note: The graphics in this page use a different source for figures for France from that used by Johns Hopkins University, which results in a slightly lower overall total. US figures do not include Puerto Rico, Guam or the US Virgin Islands.
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