ABUJA, Nigeria 

South Africa reported 286 new coronavirus deaths late Friday, taking the number of fatalities to 11,556, according to that country’s health officials.

It registered 6,275 new COVID-19 cases, bringing that tally to 579,140.

Health care professionals conducted more than 3.3 million tests and 461,734 patients have recovered in the most-affected country on the continent.

The pandemic has claimed more than 764,683 lives in 188 countries and regions since it originated in China last December.
The US, Brazil, India and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.
More than 21 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 13.2 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut