Nine cases of coronavirus have been reported across the continent, including North Africa.

Questions have been asked about the accuracy of these figures, but we do not have any evidence that any cases have been missed.

African countries have been taking steps to prepare, and African health systems have shown in the past they can tackle outbreaks of disease including Ebola and Yellow Fever.

Coronavirus tests should be ready “within a couple of weeks” across all African nations, according to the World Health Organization. Currently 33 of 47 sub-Saharan African countries have testing facilities, up from only two in January.

But health experts worry that a large-scale outbreak of coronavirus could be a struggle.

At the same time Tanzania’s State House has shared a picture of President John Magufuli, exchanging a foot greeting with opposition politician Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad, as part of new measures being observed by the health ministry to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The deadly virus, which broke out in January 2020 in China’s central city of Wuhan, has killed more than 3,000 people globally.

Most of the deaths are in China but over the past days there were nine times more new infections outside China than inside.

Governments around the world, including Tanzania, have advised people to avoid hugging, kissing and greeting people by hand to prevent the spread of the virus.

According to the BBC, Tanzania has not registered any suspected cases, while Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria and Senegal are the only countries in Africa to report positive cases of the coronavirus.

More developed nations are also battling the outbreak – it could be a challenge for them to turn their focus and assist the continent.