The number of coronavirus cases in Africa has surpassed one-million, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, but the continent appears so far to have been spared the worst of the pandemic.

Half of the infections are in just one country, South Africa.

There are still low levels of testing in most countries, meaning the rate of infections could be higher than reported.

Most cases are currently concentrated around the major cities.

More than 18.6 million people have been reported to be infected by coronavirus globally and 702,000​ have died, according to the World Health Organization.

In Africa, nearly 21,000 have died and 670,000 have recovered.

Director of Africa CDC, John Nkengasong, told the BBC Focus of Africa programme on Thursday that 70% of those infected in the continent had recovered.

"I don't think the continent should panic but we should rather focus to do the right things and use science to drive our response capabilities," he said.

The WHO previously highlighted that the continent lacks ventilators to deal with a pandemic.

Healthcare workers in different parts of the continent have also complained about the lack of adequate personal protective equipment.