Addis Ababa, Feb 2 (IANS): The overall Covid-19 caseload in Africa has increased to 3,567,552 amid an ongoing second wave of the pandemic which could be due to the emergence of new variants of the virus.

In an update on Monday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the death toll due to the pandemic stood at 91,006, reports Xinhua news agency.

A total of 3,052,143 people infected with the disease have so far recovered across the continent so far, according to the update.

The Southern Africa region is the most affected area in Africa in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases, followed by the Northern region, according to the agency.

The most affected countries in terms of the number of cases include South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, said the Africa CDC.

On January 30, the Africa CDC had disclosed that the ongoing second wave could be associated with the emergence of variants that are more transmissible.

At least 40 countries have experienced a second wave of the pandemic as of January 27, including all of the ones in the Southern Africa region.