SA Covid-19 death toll inches closer to 1,000

The country's Covid-19 infections have increased by 2,642 in 24 hours with the national death toll confirmed to be 908 on Friday.

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said the total number of infections in the country had climbed to 43,434.

“A total of 850,871 tests have been processed cumulatively of which 30,196 tests have been conducted since the last report [on Thursday]," he said in a statement.

“Regrettably, we report 60 more Covid-19 related deaths: seven from Gauteng and 53 from the Western Cape This brings the total national deaths to 908.”

The recoveries to date stand at 23, 088 which translates to a recovery rate of 53.2%.

The provincial breakdown of cases, deaths and recoveries was on Friday provided as:

• Eastern Cape —  5,240 cases, 95 deaths, 2,460 recoveries;
• Western Cape — 28,807 cases, 704 deaths, 16,433 recoveries;
• Gauteng —  5,215 cases, 40 deaths, 2,344 recoveries; 
• KwaZulu-Natal — 2,936 cases, 55 deaths, 1,378 recoveries;
• Free State — 336 cases, 9 deaths, 123 recoveries;
• North West — 409 cases, 1 death, 73 recoveries;
• Limpopo — 215 cases, 3 deaths, 149 recoveries;
• Mpumalanga — 169 cases, 0 deaths, 94 recoveries; and
• Northern Cape — 102 cases, 1 death, 34 recoveries.

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