Africa's COVID-19 deaths have surpassed 1,000, with the World Health Organization (WHO) suggesting that the number could be even higher.

52 of the continent's 54 countries have reported cases of the disease, with the total number exceeding 19,800.

Among the COVID-19 fatalities reported include Abba Kyari, the chief of staff to Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari. Kyari died Friday while receiving treatment.

Egypt remains the worst affected country, having recorded over 2,800 cases and 0ver 200 deaths.

Other countries that have recorded over 2,000 cases are South Africa, Algeria and Morocco. Cameroon is the only other country to have recorded more than 1,000 cases.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom on Friday warned that "it's likely the real numbers are higher than reported", because of the continent's challenge of obtaining testing kits.

"In the past week there has been a 51% increase in the number of reported cases in my own continent, Africa, and a 60% increase in the number of reported deaths," said Tedros.

"With WHO support, most countries in Africa now have the capacity to test for COVID-19, but there are still significant gaps in access to testing kits.

We're working with partners to fill those gaps and help countries find the virus," he added. Globally, COVID-19 cases have topped 2.26 million, with the death toll going beyond 154,000.