SA's confirmed Covid-19 cases up 80 to 1,585, Eastern Cape up to 25

SA's health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Saturday night that the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country had risen to 1,585.

This is an increase of 80 from the previously reported cases.

The minister revealed that SA now has a total of 9 confirmed deaths associated with Covid-19.

The Eastern Cape now has 25 confirmed cases of the virus.

The minister also said that KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu had confirmed that 11 Covid-19 cases in the province had been linked to St Augustine’s Hospital in Durban and that three of the deceased patients had been admitted at the hospital.

Mkhize said the cases included patients, health workers and other staff members.

As a precaution, the sections of the hospital affected are to be closed and no new patient admissions will be permitted while the department attempts to establish the true extent of the existence of infection in the hospital.

The provincial breakdown is as follows:

• Gauteng: 693
• Western Cape: 433
• KwaZulu-Natal: 232
• Free State: 85
• North West: 11
• Mpumalanga: 18
• Limpopo: 18
• Eastern Cape: 25
• Northern Cape: 7
• Unallocated: 63

— DispatchLIVE