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ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African continent has reached 2,854,971 as of Tuesday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The continental disease control and prevention agency said in a statement that the death toll from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has reached 67,986 as of Tuesday afternoon.

The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU) Commission, also said that a total of 2,361,900 people infected with COVID-19 had recovered from the infectious virus across the continent so far.

The most affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia, respectively, figures from the Africa CDC showed.

South Africa has the highest number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, at 1,113,349. The country also has the highest COVID-19-inflicted deaths at 30,011 according to the Africa CDC.

Last week, Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, called on the African continent to ensure economic recovery from the brunt of COVID-19 pandemic as the New Year begins.

"As we mark the end of the year 2020, we also mark the end of one of the most extraordinary and challenging years in living memory," the chairperson of the 55-member pan-African bloc said in a statement.

Mahamat warned that "the challenging task of protecting our health and livelihoods, while ensuring recovery of our economies, still lies ahead as we begin a new year." Enditem