Africa now has more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Saturday, while Nigeria said the president’s chief of staff had died.
A total of 52 of the continent’s 54 countries have reported the coronavirus, with the overall number of cases more than 19,800.
Nigeria’s government said Abba Kyari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, died Friday of COVID-19. “May God accept his soul,” the statement said. [ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ] Kyari had been considered by some as Nigeria’s most powerful government figure, His infection had been one of the highest-profile in Africa.