SA has almost 5,000 Covid-19 cases, as numbers continue to rise

South Africa now has 4,996 cases of Covid-19, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a briefing, Mkhize said that there were also three deaths, taking the national total to 93. All three deaths were in the Western Cape.

Mkhize said 185,497 tests have been conducted at this stage. There have also been 2,073 recoveries.

Of the three new deaths, one was a 67-year-old male, another a 70-year-old male, and the third a 79-year-old female. All had "underlying [health] challenges", said Mkhize.

In terms of the provincial breakdown, there are now nearly 500 cases more in the Western Cape than Gauteng.

This is the current provincial breakdown:

• Western Cape: 1,870 (with 38 deaths);
• Gauteng: 1,377 (8 deaths);
• KwaZulu-Natal: 919 (30 deaths);
• Eastern Cape: 616 (10 deaths);
• Free State: 113 (5 deaths);
• Limpopo: 31 (2 deaths);
• North West: 29;
• Mpumalanga: 24; and
• Northern Cape: 17.

This is a developing story.