Four new countries and areas from the African Region are the latest to report their first cases of COVID-19 infections as of March 22. The spread of the infections in Africa is considerably low compared to the European and the Middle Eastern regions. But there is heightened concern since Africa has no facilities comparable to the ones in more developed regions.

To date, there are 739 confirmed cases in Africa. 167 cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours. At the same time, eight new deaths were reported in the same period, bringing the total deaths to 20.   

Meanwhile, China is now coming to aid nations that are still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic as it continues to report a slowdown in the number of new cases and deaths. The Asian country is deploying health experts and other forms of medical aids in different parts of the world.

In Africa, Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia) became the recipient of medical supplies, protective gear, and test kits from Chinese billionaire Jack Ma. As many as 5.4 million face masks, more than 1 million testing kits, 40,000 protective clothing and 60,000 sets of face shields. 

Madagascar, meanwhile, confirmed its first three cases of COVID-19. The country is one of the underdeveloped nations in the world. The government, however, acted promptly by stopping all international flights to contain the virus. 

Other African nations to report their first cases are Angola, Eritrea, and Uganda while Mauritius recorded its first death days after just confirming its first cases.

The patients in Angola are two male residents who just came back from Portugal. The country's first case is a 39-year-old national who came from Norway.    

Here are the total number of cases, new cases, total deaths, and new deaths in the African region as of March 22.  

South Africa (total cases 240)-(new cases 35)-(total deaths 0)-(new deaths 0) 

Algeria 94-0-15-5 

Burkina Faso 72-32-3-2 

Senegal 56-18-0-0 

Cameroon 27-5-0-0 

Democratic Republic of the Congo 23-9-1-1 

Nigeria 22-10-0-0

Ghana 19-3-0-0 

Rwanda 17-6-0-0 

Togo 15-6-0-0 

Mauritius 12-0-0-0 

Côte d'Ivoire 9-0-0-0 

Ethiopia 9-0-0-0 

Kenya 7-0-0-0 

Seychelles 7-1-0-0 

Equatorial Guinea 6-2-0-0 

United Republic of Tanzania 6-0-0-0 

Congo 4-1-0-0 

Cabo Verde 3-2-0-0 

Central African Republic 3-2-0-0 

Gabon 3-0-1-0 

Liberia 3-1-0-0 

Madagascar 3-3-0-0 

Namibia 3-0-0-0 

Angola 2-2-0-0 

Benin 2-0-0-0 

Guinea 2-0-0-0 

Mauritania 2-0-0-0 

Zambia 2-0-0-0 

Zimbabwe 2-1-0-0 

Chad 1-0-0-0 

Eritrea 1-1-0-0 

Eswatini 1-0-0-0 

Gambia 1-0-0-0 

Niger 1-0-0-0 

Uganda 1-1-0-0