Addis Ababa, May 22 (IANS): The number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases across Africa surpassed 95,000 as of Thursday afternoon, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union (AU), in its latest situation update issued on Thursday revealed that the number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases across the continent rose from 91,598 on Wednesday to 95,201 as of Thursday afternoon, registering about 3,603 new cases during the stated period, Xinhua reported.

The death toll due to the COVID-19 pandemic across the African continent also surged from 2, 912 on Wednesday afternoon to 2,997 as of Thursday afternoon, eventually registering about 85 new deaths during the past 24-hours period, according to the Africa CDC.

The Africa CDC also disclosed that some 38,075 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 have recovered across the continent as of Wednesday afternoon, registering some 2,267 new recoveries during the past 24-hours period.

The continental disease control and prevention agency also noted that the virus has so far spread into all of the 54 African countries.

Figures from the Africa CDC also show that amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, the highly COVID-19 affected African countries include South Africa with 18,003 confirmed cases, Egypt with 14,229 confirmed cases, Algeria with 7,542 confirmed cases as well as Morocco with 7,133 confirmed cases.

The Africa CDC also disclosed that the Northern African region is the most affected area across the continent both in terms of positive COVID-19 cases, as well as the number of deaths.