ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent has reached 2,986,564 as of Saturday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

Patients with the COVID 19 Coronavirus, sit in a room and are given oxygen in the COVID-19 ward at Khayelitsha Hospital, about 35km from the centre of Cape Town, on December 29, 2020. (File photo: AFP)

The death toll related to the pandemic stood at 71,463, and a total of 2,433,002 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent, Africa CDC said.

The most affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, at 1,192,570; Morocco, 450,221; Tunisia, 154,903; and Egypt, 147,810.

South Africa also has the highest number of deaths related to COVID-19 in Africa, at 34,789.

Ethiopia is the most affected country in East Africa. Its confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 127,572 and the toll related to the pandemic at 1,974 as of Saturday, according to figures from the Ethiopian Ministry of Health.