Daily Covid-19 update: 2759 new cases detected as infection numbers spike

As of Wednesday 12 May 2021, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases is 1,602,031, with 2759 new cases recorded, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has confirmed.

72 more Covid-19 related deaths were reported, with 6 from Eastern Cape, 13 from Free State, 27 from Gauteng, 5 from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), 0 from Limpopo, 5 from Mpumalanga, 0 from North West, 4 from Northern Cape and 12 from Western Cape.

READ MORE: Severity of third Covid-19 wave will come down to ‘timing’

This brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 54 968.

Recoveries now stand at 1,519,734 representing a recovery rate of 95%.

A total of 10,968,926 tests have been completed with 37,020 new tests conducted since the last report.

Meanwhile, the total number of vaccines that have been administered stands at 430,730.

SA in ‘third wave’

Earlier, it was reported that South Africa was in the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize has been as quoted as saying, in communication to provinces, that the country was in “a third wave, even if not fitting in technical definition”.

“Kindly note that the Covid-19 positive cases are rising rapidly. The numbers will now longer go down other than if we start intensive containment measures,” News24 quotes Mkhize as saying.