The COVID-19 infections numbers are just 60 cases shy of the 600 000 mark .
This after 3 880 more people tested positive for the disease in the last 24 hours, increasing the total number of infections from 596 060 to 599 940.
The new infection numbers were recorded from 24 612 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of tests conducted so far from 3455 671 to 3480 283.
Of the 599 940 infections, 497 168 patients have recovered from the deadly disease, shooting the recovery rate to 82 percent.
This was announced by Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize on Thursday August 20.
He also said 195 more patient have died from the disease, increasing the death toll from 12 423 to 12 618.
Of the 195 deaths, 26 were from the Eastern Cape, 83 from Gauteng, 36 from KwaZulu-Natal, 13 from Western Cape, 12 from Limpopo and 25 from the Free State.
