Addis Ababa, Jul 20 (IANS): The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases across the African continent has reached 701,573, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC in its latest situation update issued on Sunday said that the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases across the continent rose from 683,905 on Saturday afternoon to 701,573 as of Sunday morning, Xinhua reported.

The continental disease control and prevention agency also disclosed that the death toll from the pandemic surged to 14,937 as of the stated period.

The Africa CDC further said that 369,120 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 have so far recovered from the infectious virus.

Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, the highly affected African countries in terms of positive cases include South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, Morocco, and Cameroon.

The Africa CDC also said that the Southern Africa region is now the most affected area across the continent in terms of positive Covid-19 cases, followed by the North Africa region.

The West Africa region is the third most affected area in terms of positive cases, followed by the Eastern and Central Africa regions, respectively.