Covid-19 claims 848 lives in SA as infections reach 40,792

Health minister Zweli Mkhize said the number of Covid-19 cases had increased to 40,792 on Thursday - an increase of 3,267 cases in 24 hours.

"Regrettably, we report 56 more Covid-19 related deaths," he said.

These consisted of 54 in the Western Cape and one each in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State.

The combined national death toll now stands at 848 people.

"The recoveries to date are 21,311. This translates to a recovery rate of 52.24%," added Mkhize.

A total of 820,675 tests have been processed, of which 34,696 were conducted since the previous statistics were released on Wednesday.

Around 40% of the tests were performed in the private sector and 60% in the public sector.

There were 27,006 positive infections recorded in the Western Cape, 4,845 in Gauteng, 4,936 in the Eastern Cape and 2,869 in KwaZulu-Natal.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is scheduled to visit Cape Town on Friday to "assess the Western Cape’s provincial response to the Covid-19 pandemic".