New COVID-19 cases in Africa rise slightly, while deaths drop

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

The African continent saw 21,898 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, a slight rise compared to the previous day, the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update on Monday.

The number of new deaths dropped to 448 on Monday, from 601 on Sunday.

The continent registered a total of 7,913,239 cases as of Monday, including 199,580 fatalities and 7,148,888 recoveries.

So far, Africa has conducted 67.5 million tests, the figures showed.

Of the five geographical regions in the continent, Southern Africa recorded 3.8 million COVID-19 infections, North Africa 2.4 million, East Africa 924,200, West Africa 613,800, and Central Africa 221,700.

The continent has acquired 137.7 million doses of vaccines, with 104.2 million of them administered so far.