Mapping the Coronavirus Pandemic in Africa

The maps and charts on this page are updated daily. Last updated on
3rd January 2022 03.00 GMT
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that started in Wuhan, China, is spreading across the world at an incredible speed. As confirmed cases, recoveries and fatalities grow in Africa, keep track of the numbers—and of The Elephant’s coverage below.
9,774,760
Confirmed Cases
+22,921
8,665,335
Recovered Cases
+22,841
228,763
Death Cases
+150
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Cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in all 55 territories on the continent, with South Africa recording the highest number.
The first case of COVID-19 in Africa was confirmed on 14th February 2020 in Egypt. Below is a visualisation on how the virus has spread across the continent over time.
Flattening the Curve
The curve the whole world is talking about is the projection of confirmed cases of COVID-19 over a period of time. The graph represents the number of people who have contracted the disease, on the vertical axis, for each day since the first case, on the horizontal axis. A high curve is created by a steep increase in the number of cases per day until a peak and then a decline in daily infections. Flattening the curve is essentially introducing interventions such as social distancing, hand-washing, and lockdowns to reduce the potential spread of infection and prevent healthcare systems from being overburdened by cases all at once.
The visualisation below compares how the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread over 630 days since the first confirmed case in each country.
Mitigation Measures
African nations are quicky implementing mitigation measures to help curb the spread of the coronavirus within their territories. Such measures have included flight restrictions, border closures and banning of public gatherings. Select country from dropdown menu to view key statistics and mitigation measures taken.
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Based on CSSEGISandData, WorldOMeters, UN Population Prospects 2019 datasets and government websites. This data changes rapidly, so what’s shown may be out of date.
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Data Research – Salma Mwangola & Juliet Atellah
Data Visualisation – Alan Kawamara
