18,762 new Covid-19 cases in SA in 24 hours as third wave bites

There were 11,777 new Covid-19 cases in Gauteng alone in the last 24 hours, as the third wave continues to severely impact SA's economic hub.

The province accounted for 63% of the country's 18,762 new infections, according to figures released by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Friday.

The next worst-hit province was the Western Cape, which had 1,758 new infections recorded in the past day.

At the same time, there were 215 Covid-19 related deaths recorded, meaning that there have now been 59,621 fatalities across SA linked to the virus since the outbreak in March last year.

There have now been 1,895,905 cumulative cases recorded to date.

According to the NICD figures, there were 606 new hospital admissions in the last 24 hours, meaning that there are now 11,149 being treated in the country's hospitals.

TimesLIVE