The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African continent hit 2,429,662 as of Thursday afternoon, 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 related to the pandemic stood at 57,422, while a total of 2,057,104 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent.

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

Meanwhile, a newly published report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), entitled Economic Report on Africa, disclosed that spending on health will increase in 2020 as governments "set aside funds to sustain their health systems and absorb costs related to the COVID-19 lockdowns", given that Africa depends on imported medicinal and pharmaceutical products.

According to the report, in a best-case scenario, 44 billion U.S. dollars would be required across Africa for testing, personal protective equipment and treatment of COVID-19 patients who require hospitalization and intensive care treatment.

Due to the resources being redirected to COVID-19, the report stressed that Africa's existing health challenges "will face spillover costs, as happened in the Ebola crisis."

The impact of the pandemic will push between 5 million and 29 million people below the extreme poverty line of 1.90 U.S. dollars per day, compared with a baseline 2020 African growth scenario, according to UNECA projections.

Moreover, reduced demand due to COVID-19 has depressed the prices of agricultural commodities such as coffee, tea and cocoa, which are expected to affect vulnerable small-scale farmers in Africa.