More than 10,000 health workers in 40 African countries have been contaminated with the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated on Thursday.

The pandemic is gathering pace in Africa, with some 750,000 instances and more than 15,000 deaths across the continent, according to the WHO.

“The growth we are seeing is placing an ever peg eater strain on health services across the continent”, WHO Africa Director, Matshidiso Moeti, stated.

“This has very real consequences for the individuals who work in them”, Moeti added.

Information on health worker infections in Africa is limited, with not all nations reporting statistics to the WHO.

But preliminary information reveals that health workers make up greater than 5 per cent of cases in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Health staff are contaminated attributable to lack of non-public protecting gear (PPE) as well as weak prevention and management measures, in line with Moeti.

Surging global demand for protecting gear and international journey restrictions has triggered provide shortages, the WHO stated.

However, 41 million gadgets of protective equipment are able to be shipped from China to cover the wants of 47 African countries, with shipments planned to start out this weekend.

Only 16 per cent of 30,000 clinics and hospitals throughout the continent, the WHO assessed, had sufficient infection prevention and management measures.