South Africa has more than half of the cases on continent

SOUTH AFRICA has become the fifth nation to record more than half a million coronavirus cases and now accounts for more than 50pc of Covid-19 infections in Africa.

Zwelini Mkhize, the health minister, announced a further 10,107 new cases on Saturday. The nation now tails only the US, Brazil, Russia and India by number of infections, despite having a significantly smaller population.

Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African president, said he saw “promising signs” that the alarming growth was stabilising and that the healthcare system was coping in most areas.

Meanwhile, the governor of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, announced that places of worship including churches and mosques would reopen in Africa’s most populous city.

“We will only allow 50pc of their maximum capacities, either at the church or at the mosque,” Babajide Sanwo-Olu said in a statement.

However, the governor advised those over the age of 65 to remain at home. Lagos, home to 20 million, has suffered 15,000 cases and 192 deaths.

India’s coronavirus caseload hit 1.75 million with another spike of 54,735 in the past 24 hours. The new cases are down from 57,118 on Saturday.

The Health Ministry reported 853 deaths yesterday, for a total of 37,364.

Randeep Guleria, a top government expert, said that New Delhi and Mumbai may have hit their peak and would now decline. The month of July alone has accounted for more than 1.1 million cases in India. The country’s Home Minister, Amit Shah, revealed yesterday he had tested positive for the coronavirus. (© Daily Telegraph, London)