COVID-19 timeline by country in Africa
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Africa on 14 February 2020, with the first confirmed case announced in Egypt. The first confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa was announced in Nigeria at the end of February. Within three months, the virus had spread throughout the continent, as Lesotho, the last African sovereign state to have remained free of the virus, reported a case on 13 May. By 26 May, it appeared that most African countries were experiencing community transmission, although testing capacity was limited. Most of the identified imported cases arrived from Europe and the United States rather than from China where the virus originated. It is believed that there is widespread under-reporting in many African countries with less developed healthcare systems.
| COVID-19 pandemic in Africa | |
|---|---|
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Africa |
| First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China |
| Arrival date | 14 February 2020 (4 years, 2 months and 4 days ago) |
| Confirmed cases | 4,155,451 (as of 23 March 2021) |
| Active cases | 331,375 (as of 23 March 2021) |
| Recovered | 3,713,065 (as of 23 March 2021) |
Deaths | 110,606 (as of 23 March 2021) |
Territories | 58 |
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New strains of the virus were found in December 2020 in South Africa and Nigeria, in addition to the Lineage B.1.1.7 variant reported in the United Kingdom in September.
The African Union secured close to 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in the largest such agreement yet for Africa; it was announced on 13 January 2021. This is independent of the global Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (COVAX) effort aimed at distributing COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries. Notably, however, African countries were being charged more than double what European countries had to pay for certain vaccines. The Group of Seven (G-7) promised an equitable distribution of vaccines on 19 February 2021, although few details were provided. The African Union secured close to 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in the largest such agreement yet for Africa; it was announced on 13 January 2021. This is independent of the global Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (COVAX) effort aimed at distributing COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries. Notably, however, African countries were being charged more than double what European countries had to pay for certain vaccines. The Group of Seven (G-7) promised an equitable distribution of vaccines on 19 February 2021, although few details were provided.