SA records highest ever number of Covid-19 cases in a day

Close to 18,000 new Covid-19 cases have been recorded over the past 24-hours, setting a new record for the number of infections in a day.

Health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday evening that the positivity rate - being an indicator of the rapidity of the spread of the virus - stood at 33% and remained of “major concern”.

The latest daily tally of 17,710 pushes the cumulative total number of infections since the start of the pandemic in SA to 1,039,161.  

SA recorded the previous highest number of infections on December 24 with 14,305 cases.

And for the second day in a row, the daily death count was close to 500.

“Regrettably, 465 more Covid-19 related deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 88, Free State four, Gauteng 41, KwaZulu-Natal 144, Limpopo 16, Northern Cape seven and Western Cape 165. This brings the total deaths to 28,033,” said Mkhize.

“A cumulative 6,553,761 tests have been conducted with 53,279 tests completed since the last report.”

Recoveries stand at 867,597, translating into a recovery rate of 83%.

TimesLIVE