SA has 17,331 active cases of Covid-19

As of Thursday, South Africa has 17,331 active cases of Covid-19, from the 2.927,499 total cases and 2.820, 613 recoveries.

The country identified 585 new cases and 40 new deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 89,555.

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (33%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (18%).  Western Cape accounted for 16%, Eastern Cape 10%, Mpumalanga 7%, and Free State 6%. North West accounted for 4%, Northern Cape 3%, and Limpopo 2% of today’s new cases.

19.032,662 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors, announced the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, in a statement.

There has been an increase of 33 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

– More than 5.1 million dead – 

The coronavirus has killed at least 5,122,675 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT Thursday. 

The United States has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 767,435, followed by Brazil with 611,851, India with 464,623, Mexico with 291,573 and Russia with 260,335.

The countries with the most new deaths were the United States with 1,630, followed by Russia with 1,251 and Ukraine with 752.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

Additional reporting by AFP