ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

The COVID-19 death toll in Africa is nearing the 1,000 mark as 36 new casualties were recorded over the past 24 hours, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.

The Africa CDC's evening update showed that the number of casualties had gone up to 911.

It said that 962 new cases were diagnosed over that period, raising the total to 17,247.

More than 3,546 patients have recovered, with 406 new recoveries.

The data is from 52 of 54 states across the African continent. Two countries, Comoros and Lesotho, have not reported any coronavirus cases so far.

North Africa is the worst-affected of the five regions in Africa, followed by West, Southern, Central and East Africa.

In terms of individual countries, South Africa has the most cases, 2,506, including 34 deaths.

Egypt stands as the second worst-hit with 2,505 cases and 183 deaths.

Meanwhile, a group of Chinese health workers have arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to help with the anti-virus efforts. Another team will head for Burkina Faso, according to Chinese official media.

Ethiopia, in total, has registered 94 cases, including three deaths.