SA approaches 720,000 Covid-19 cases, with 51,000 considered 'active'

The number of active Covid-19 cases across SA continues to hover around the 51,000 mark, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

This as 1,863 new cases of the respiratory illness were confirmed in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of infections nationwide to 719,714.

Of the active cases, 15,909 were in Gauteng, 13,413 in the Free State, 6,772 in KwaZulu-Natal and 4,257 in the Western Cape.

In Wednesday's statement, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said there had been 58 Covid-19 related deaths recorded since the release of Tuesday's figures.

This means that there are now 19,111 confirmed deaths across SA linked to the virus.

However, 16 of the deaths were in the past 24-48 hours, and the other 42 were older deaths that had been verified since Tuesday.

“Our recoveries now stand at 648,654 which translates to a recovery rate of 90%," said Mkhize.

The figures are based on 4,752,596 tests to date, with 25,721 of them in the latest 24-hour cycle.

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