People queue as they wait for a food distribution by the Cleveland Civic Committee in Cleveland, near Johannesburg, on April 20, 2020. (Photo: AFP)

ADDIS ABABA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the African continent has reached 1,331 as confirmed positive cases reached 29,053 as of Saturday, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, a specialized agency of the 55-member African Union (AU), in its latest situation update issued on Saturday also disclosed that the confirmed COVID-19 cases were spread across 52 countries.

The Africa CDC also disclosed that some 8,364 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 have recovered across the continent as of Saturday afternoon.

Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the African continent, figures from the Africa CDC also show that the highly COVID-19 affected African countries include South Africa with a total of 4,220 confirmed cases, Egypt with a total of 4,092 confirmed cases, Morocco with a total of 3,758 confirmed cases as well as Algeria with a total of 3,127 confirmed cases as of the stated period.

The death toll has also increased from 1,303 on Friday to 1,331 on Saturday, according to the Africa CDC.

The Africa CDC had last week emphasized the crucial need to strengthen COVID-19 precautionary measures across the continent so as to halt the spread of the virus.