Covid-19 cases rose 43 percent in Africa last week. The World Health Organization has expressed fears that the continent, with a population of 1.3 billion, may be the next epicenter of the global epidemic. John Knikengsong, director of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a weekly report on Thursday that the investigative capacity in Africa is 'very limited'. He said this means that there could actually be more cases of infection in the continent.

Recently, the World Health Organization said that 300,000 people could be killed by this virus in Africa and it could push 30 million people into extreme poverty. He said that Africa still has time to avert this major calamity and for this investigation and identification of those exposed to the virus is very important.

According to the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, African governments have confirmed around 26,000 cases of infection by Thursday, whereas last week the figure was 16,000.