Nigeria, similarly on Monday, confirmed 245 new cases of COVID-19, the highest in a single day. By late Wednesday, the infections in the most populous African nation stood at 3,145, according to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control(NCDC).

South Africa's COVID-19 cases, on the other hand, stand at 7,808 on Wednesday night, according to Health minister Zweli Mkhize.

Analysts attributed the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in Africa to the disease spreading in the community as countries grapple with a shortage of testing kits.

"Over the past months, most African countries lacked the capacity to conduct mass testing, with the situation exacerbated by global shortage of gadgets. This saw Africa record low cases giving people a false sense of normalcy, which has helped contribute to the spread of the disease," said Eric Mang'unyi, a researcher at the Walter Sisulu University in South Africa.

Mang'unyi noted that a number of African countries have lately acquired the gadgets, some donated by Chinese e-commerce mogul Jack Ma, thus ramped up testing, what has seen an exponential surge in numbers.

"The fact that most Africans are asymptomatic has further helped to the spread of the disease because people see they are not sick yet they are," he said.

But amid the spreading, African governments have stepped up measures to combat the disease, with most of them announcing partial or full lockdowns, closure of businesses and banned international flights as they battle the disease.

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