Covid-19 death toll passes 45,000 as 400 fatalities recorded in 24 hours

South Africa recorded 398 Covid-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours, as the country breached the 45,000 mark for confirmed fatalities.

In a statement on Wednesday night, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said that there were now 45,344 confirmed deaths linked to the coronavirus.

Of the newly recorded fatalities, 138 were in KwaZulu-Natal, 97 in Gauteng, 67 in the Western Cape, 46 in the Eastern Cape, 21 in Mpumalanga, 12 in the Free State, nine in the Northern Cape and eight in the North West.

Mkhize said on Monday that there were 4,058 new Covid-19 infections confirmed across the country, taking the cumulative total to 1,463,016.

The new infections came from 39,596 tests, at a recovery rate of 10.25%.

Mkhize also reported that the country's recovery rate from the illness had once again climbed to over 90%, as the second wave of infections continued to slow. To date, 1,323,680 recoveries have been recorded at a recovery rate of 90.5%.

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