ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent has reached 1,654,412 as of Tuesday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of African Union Commission, said in a statement that the number of deaths due to illnesses related to the pandemic reached 39,925 as of Tuesday afternoon.

The Africa CDC said the number of people who have recovered from the infectious virus across the continent has reached 1,363,106 so far.

The most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.

The Southern Africa region is the most COVID-19 affected region both in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases as well as the number of deaths.

The Northern Africa region is the second most COVID-19-affected African region, according to the Africa CDC.

South Africa currently has the most COVID-19 cases, which hit 705, 254. The country also has the highest number of deaths related to COVID-19, at 18,492.

Morocco came next with 175,749 confirmed cases and 2,976 deaths, followed by Egypt with 105,547 confirmed cases and 6,130 deaths, Africa CDC said.