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ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- African countries have conducted over 17 million COVID-19 tests, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Friday.

"Over 17 million tests for COVID-19 have been conducted to date with a positivity rate of 9.5 percent," the Africa CDC said in its latest situation update.

As of Friday afternoon, the number of confirmed cases in the African continent has reached 1,759,794 as the death toll related to the pandemic stood at 42,336, the continental disease control and prevention agency said.

According to the Africa CDC, thirteen AU members are reporting case fatality rates higher than the global case fatality rate of 2.7 percent, including Sudan, Liberia, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

According to latest figures from the Africa CDC, a total of 1,438,841 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent. The most affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria.