Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Sunday confirmed 1778 new Covid-19 cases in South Africa and 11 Covid-19 related deaths.
Of the newly confirmed deaths, 8 were reported in Gauteng, 1 in the Eastern Cape, 1 in the Free State and 1 in KwaZulu-Natal.
This brings the total number of people who have died of Covid-19 related complications in South Africa to 54 735.
As of today the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases identified in the country is 1 596 595.
The cumulative recoveries now stand at 1 516 256, representing a recovery rate of 95%.
The number of tests conducted to date is 10 887 709. Of these 26 098 tests were conducted since the last report.
The number of healthcare workers vaccinated under the Sisonke Protocol to date remains 382 480.
KwaZulu-Natal has the most active cases at 5 732.
On Saturday the Department of Health confirmed that four people in South Africa have tested positive for the Covid-19 variant that is wreaking havoc in India.
“The four cases of B.1.617.2 have been detected in Gauteng (2) and KwaZulu-Natal (2) and all have a history of recent arrival from India. All cases have been isolated and managed according to national Covid-19 case management guidelines and contact tracing has been performed in order to limit the spread of this variant,” Mkhize said on Saturday.
These are also 11 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the UK.
“Of the eleven cases of B.1.1.7, eight were detected in the Western Cape (with two having a history of travel from Bahrain), one was detected in KwaZulu- Natal and two were detected in Gauteng. The B.1.1.7 has been detected in community samples and this therefore suggests that community transmission of B.1.1.7 has already set in,” Mkhize said.
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