He expelled a WHO representative and three public health experts coordinating the virus response, and his administration insisted the country would be spared because of its Christian faith.

Tolbert Nyenswah, senior research associate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and former deputy minister of health in Liberia, said early, aggressive action by leaders is key.

"You'll find the countries with a high number of cases, like Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, are some of those countries that are very good at doing testing," Nyenswah said on VOA's Straight Talk Africa.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is one leader winning high marks for taking early action in the country's fight against the coronavirus.

Africa's most populous country has the third-highest number of coronavirus cases, with just over 11,000.