African countries conduct close to 40 m COVID-19 tests: Africa CDC — Health workers wait to takes a swab from a man during a community COVID-19 coronavirus testing campaign in Lagos on April 18, 2020. (Photo by Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

African countries had conducted over 39.8 million COVID-19 tests, said the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU), said COVID-19 tests that were conducted by African countries during the past week, registered a 5-percent increase from tests carried out in the previous week, the agency announced in its latest continental update issued late Thursday.

According to the agency, Africa’s total COVID-19 positivity rate is 10.3 percent.

The African continent reported 4,154,938 COVID-19 cases with 111,318 deaths as of Friday noon, while 3,723,621 patients have recovered from the disease, according to the latest figures from the Africa CDC.