SA closes in on 1 million Covid-19 cases, with 14,700 recorded in 24 hours
Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said 14,796 new infections had been recorded in 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 983,359
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SA is likely to hit one million confirmed Covid-19 cases this weekend, after more than 14,000 new cases of the illness were recorded in a 24-hour period for the third straight day.
Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Christmas Day that 14,796 new infections had been recorded, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 983,359.
The new cases — a new recorded for single-day increases in confirmed infections — came from 52,223 tests, at a positivity rate of 28.33%.
Mkhize also revealed that KwaZulu-Natal had become the new epicentre for Covid-19 in SA, taking over the Western Cape in terms of active cases. Currently, KZN has 40,197 active cases, compared to 38,670 in the Western Cape. Gauteng has 22,151 and the Eastern Cape 11,079. No other provinces have more than 5,000 active cases.
There were also 293 Covid-19 related deaths in the 24-hour period, taking the national total to 26,276. Of the new deaths, 115 were in the Eastern Cape, 107 in the Western Cape, 27 in KwaZulu-Natal, 23 in Gauteng, 10 in Limpopo, six in the Free State and five in Mpumalanga.
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