a somali citizen returning home from china. puntland main article: covid-19 pandemic in puntland the first case and fatality was confirmed on 23 april 2020. six months later there had been around 500 cases and at least nine deaths. somaliland main article: covid-19 pandemic in somaliland on 31 march, the first two cases in somaliland were confirmed. the two cases were a somaliland citizen and a chinese national. south africa main article: covid-19 pandemic in south africa confirmed covid-19 cases in south africa. covid-19 active cases in south africa first wave (march 2020 – november 2020) on 5 march 2020, the first confirmed case of covid-19 was announced in south africa, by a passenger returning from italy. this resulted in president cyril ramaphosa declaring a national state of disaster on 15 march 2020 and the implementation of the national lockdown beginning on 26 march sign on a highway near paarl, south africa, informing the public of the covid-19 lockdown, april 2020 from 1 may 2020, a gradual and phased easing of the lockdown restrictions began, lowering the national alert level to level 4. on 1 june 2020, it was eased to level 3. on 15 august, president ramaphosa announced that after the passing of the covid-19 peak, the lockdown will be lowered to level 2. on 21 september, lockdown was finally eased to level 1 second wave (december 2020 – april 2021) people practicing social distancing during a shopping outing in south africa, may 2020 after the discovery of the 501y.v2 variant on 18 december 2020, and the rise of cases after surpassing 1 million people testing positive, it was announced on 28 december that the country would go back to a partial lockdown level 3 to reduce the speed of the second wave during the festive season. it was then lowered back to a level 1 after numbers declined. the national vaccination program in south africa was set to begin in early february 2021, after receiving its 1st 1,000,000 doses of oxford-astrazeneca vaccine, but on 7 february, sahpra suspended the vaccine after it proved to be ineffective against the 501y.v2 variant on 17 february 2021, the national covid vaccination program was officially rolled out after south africa received its first consignment of 80,000 doses of the janssen vaccine. so far sahpra has approved the pfizer/biontech and janssen vaccines for use, with oxford-astrazeneca vaccine currently suspended due to its ineffectiveness. currently, 220 million doses of the janssen vaccine is in the process of being manufactured locally, with the country currently in phase 2 targeting mainly people over the age of 60 and frontline workers. third wave (may 2021–present) on 30 may, president ramaphosa, addressed the nation announcing the tightening of restrictions from adjusted level lockdown 1 to 2. this comes close to the recent sequencing of b.1.617.2 variant. the third covid-19 wave had taken hold. south sudan main article: covid-19 pandemic in south sudan on 5 april, the first case was confirmed. two cases covid-19 were confirmed on 13 may in a crowded civilian protection camp in juba. the camp houses 30,000 people. territories of spain further information: covid-19 pandemic in spain canary islands main article: covid-19 pandemic in the canary islands the covid-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the canary islands on 31 january 2020. 2,275 confirmed cases and 151 deaths were reported as of 15 may 2020. ceuta main article: covid-19 pandemic in ceuta the covid-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached in ceuta on 13 march 2020. melilla main article: covid-19 pandemic in melilla the covid-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached in melilla on 10 march 2020. as of 16 february 2021, 6,675 cases had been confirmed with 472 patients hospitalized, and 62 deaths. sudan main article: covid-19 pandemic in sudan the country's first case was announced on 13 march, a man who had died in khartoum the previous day. he had visited the united arab emirates in the first week of march. by 29 may, a surge of reported deaths in north darfur raised fears of a serious outbreak in the region, although testing remains poor. sudan reported 25,730 total cases, 8,914 active cases, and 1,576 total deaths on 13 january 2021. this is 36 deaths per one million population. tanzania main article: covid-19 pandemic in tanzania on 16 march 2020, the first case was confirmed. tanzanian authorities stopped reporting case numbers in may. an artist painting a covid-19 awareness mural in tanzania, june 2020 the government announced in january 2021 that it had no plans in participate in vaccination projects encouraged by the who. the catholic church in africa said it had observed an increase in requiem masses and blamed funerals on an increase in covid-19 infections. on 17 february, seif sharif hamad, 77, vice president of zanzibar died of acute pneumonia related to covid-19. president john magufuli died of a heart condition on 17 march, although many suspect it was covid-19 related. doctors expressed hope that the new president would bring positive change to the way the pandemic is addressed. togo main article: covid-19 pandemic in togo on 6 march 2020, the first case in the country was confirmed. as of 17 february 2021, 5,953 confirmed cases, 5,094 recoveries, and 81 deaths had been reported. tunisia main article: covid-19 pandemic in tunisia on 2 march, the first case in the country was confirmed. 168,568 total cases, 40,378 active cases, and 5,415 total deaths were reported on 13 january 2021 in tunisia. this is a death rate of 456 per one million population. uganda main article: covid-19 pandemic in uganda students wear masks at school in uganda, february 2021 on 20 march, the first case in uganda was confirmed. the first confirmed death was on 24 july. uganda reported 38,085 total cases, 24,698 active cases, and 304 total deaths on 13 january 2021. this is seven deaths per one million population. as of 27 july 2021, the delta variant had been detected in 97% of analyzed samples. saint helena, ascension and tristan da cunha main article: covid-19 pandemic in saint helena, ascension and tristan da cunha on 16 march three people who arrived by air to ascension island showed symptoms of covid-19. however, on 23 march it was announced that they had tested negative on 22 march on 17 march all travel by air to the saint helena island was banned, except for island citizens or residents and similar cases. there were no known cases on saint helena at this time. on 16 march as a precaution the tristan da cunha island council on tristan da cunha made the decision to ban visitors to the island to prevent the potential transmission of the disease to islanders. on 7 september 2020, the ascension island government announced two weak positives cases, subsequently tested negatives and confirmed as historical infection on 9 september. the ascension island government reported one other weak positive case on 16 november, subsequently tested negative on 18 november and a positive case in isolation on 24 december 2020. the case was tested negative on 6 january 2021. on 26 march 2021, a low positive case on a passenger arrived by flight on 24 march is reported by saint helena health directorate. the passenger was tested negative on 29 march 2021. on 27 march 2021, saint helena government announced positive cases on a fishing vessel. western sahara main articles: covid-19 pandemic in western sahara and sahrawi arab democratic republic on 4 april, the first four cases in moroccan-controlled part of western sahara were confirmed. sahrawi arab democratic republic reported its first cases on 25 july 2020. zambia main article: covid-19 pandemic in zambia zambia reported its first 2 cases of covid-19 on 18 march. the patients were a couple that had travelled to france on holiday. a third case was recorded on 22 march. the patient was a man who had travelled to pakistan. on 25 march, president edgar lungu confirmed a total of 12 cases. he also announced measures which includes suspension of international flights simon mwansa kapwepwe, harry mwaanga nkumbula and mfuwe international airports and re-routing of all international flights to kenneth kaunda international airport to facilitate screening of incoming passengers and mandatory quarantine where necessary, closure of all bars, nightclubs, casinos, cinemas and gyms and restriction of all public gatherings to 50 people or less. by 17 march, the government had shut all educational institutions and put in place some restrictions on foreign travel. on 19 august, the vice president of zambia inonge wina tested positive for covid-19. zambia reported 31,100 total cases, 9,023 active cases, and 509 total deaths on 13 january 2021. this is 27 deaths per one million population. zimbabwe main article: covid-19 pandemic in zimbabwe a boy wears a mask outdoors in zimbabwe, may 2020 before there were any confirmed cases in the country, president emmerson mnangagwa had declared a national emergency, putting in place travel restrictions and banning large gatherings. the country's defence minister oppah muchinguri caused controversy by stating the coronavirus could be a divine punishment on western nations for imposing sanctions on zimbabwe. its first case was reported on 21 march: it was a male resident of victoria falls who travelled from the united kingdom via south africa on 15 march. police report that 105,000 have been arrested for violating health measures between march and july, including 1,000 arrests for not wearing facemasks on 18 and 19 july. zimbabwe reported 24,256 total cases, 10,009 active cases, and 589 total deaths on 13 january 2021. this is 39 deaths per one million population. corruption is alleged to exist within the public vaccination program, with priority for receiving vaccines being given to those willing to pay bribes to hospital staff, and members of zimbabwe's ruling party zanu-pf. vaccines are reportedly available within the private health care system at a cost of approximately us$40. british indian ocean territory as of 18 january 2021 there had been two cases in diego garcia, followed by three arrivals in april 2021 who subsequently tested positive during their 14-day quarantine. access to the islands, already heavily restricted due to the presence of a military base on diego garcia, have been further curtailed, with licenses for visiting vessels suspended. all people arriving into the territory are subject to a 14-day quarantine; social distancing measures have also been enacted. vaccination map of countries with at least one dose of covid-19 vaccine these paragraphs are an excerpt from covid-19 vaccination in africa. covid-19 vaccination programs have begun in many countries and territories in africa. in june 2021, the world health organization predicted that 47 of africa's 54 nations would fall short of the aim of vaccinating 10% of their people by september 2021. in june, africa accounted for fewer than 1% of worldwide vaccine doses delivered. africa received in total less than 2% of the 3 billion vaccination doses provided globally. as of 5 july 2021, vaccination campaigns had started in 51 african countries with 36.5 million people receiving at least one dose. on 15 july 2021, who africa's coordinator for immunization and vaccines development reported that african nations had destroyed some 450,000 vaccine doses due to their expiry dates. he cited malawi, south sudan, liberia, mauritania, gambia, sierra leone, guinea, comoros and the democratic republic of congo as examples. also in july 2021, the european investment bank committed to fund senegal's first covid-19 vaccine production factory, at institut pasteur de dakar. by the end of 2022, this factory is expected to manufacture up to 25 million doses of a licensed covid-19 vaccine per month. this is part of a wide effort by the european investment bank to address the health and economic impact of covid-19. meanwhile, biontech and the european union are collaborating to assess mrna vaccine production facilities in rwanda and senegal. in seven african countries (botswana, cape verde, mauritius, morocco, rwanda, seychelles, tunisia) the entire targeted population had been fully vaccinated by the end of 2021. at the other end of the scale, there was no mass vaccination in eritrea, while in burundi and the democratic republic of the congo less than 0.4% of the targeted population had been fully vaccinated. background impact experts have worried about covid-19 spreading to africa, because many of the healthcare systems on the continent are inadequate, having problems such as lack of