Over 1600 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in South Africa in the last 24 hours . This is the biggest single-day increase to date since South Africa recorded its first case in March this year.
The startling stats were announced by Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize on Wednesday.
He said 1,673 new cases of COVID-19 , which is induced by coronavirus , were recorded , ballooning the total number of the national figure from 24,264 to 25,937.
He also said 28 more people lost their lives to the deadly disease , increasing the death toll from 524 to 552 .
The provincial breakdown of cases, deaths and recoveries was on Monday provided as:
- Western Cape — 16,893 cases, 391 deaths, 8,504 recoveries;
- Gauteng — 3,167 cases, 31 deaths, 1,955 recoveries;
- Eastern Cape — 3,047 cases, 70 deaths, 1,491 recoveries;
- KwaZulu-Natal — 2,186 cases, 49 deaths, 1,180 recoveries;
- Free State — 221 cases, 6 deaths, 123 recoveries;
- Limpopo — 141 cases, 3 deaths, 67 recoveries;
- North West — 128 cases, 1 death, 39 recoveries;
- Mpumalanga — 106 cases, 0 deaths, 62 recoveries; and
- Northern Cape — 48 cases, 1 death, 30 recoveries.
The figures are from a total of 634,996 tests, of which 29,005 were in the last 24-hour reporting cycle.
