Just over 1,500 new Covid-19 cases recorded in SA in 24 hours

SA is on the verge of 1.6 million total Covid-19 cases, with 1,548 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours.

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday that there were now 1,599,272 total infections recorded countrywide since the outbreak of the virus in March last year.

The new infections came from 26,075 tests, at a positivity rate of 5.93%.

Mkhize also reported 71 new Covid-19 related deaths. Of these, 23 were in the Free State, 16 were in Gauteng and in the Northern Cape, eight were in the Western Cape, five were in KwaZulu-Natal and three were in the Eastern Cape. There were no new fatalities in Limpopo, Mpumalanga or the North West.

This means there have been 54,896 deaths confirmed to date.

There have also been 1,519,258 recoveries recorded so far, at a recovery rate of 95%.

Mkhize said that there had been 414,372 healthcare workers vaccinated so far under the Sisonke Protocol.

TimesLIVE