Gauteng hasn’t reported Covid-19 death figures for two days

The Gauteng health department has not submitted Covid-19 death figures to the national health department for two days, but the province says there is “nothing untoward”, with an update to be published on Sunday.

This was revealed by the provincial and national health departments after News24 asked whether Gauteng had reported no new deaths since Thursday’s 282 tally.

Asked why the Gauteng health department had not recorded any death figures since Thursday evening, MEC Bandile Masuku downplayed the delay.

Masuku told News24: “There is nothing untoward. It is just processes of confirmation and verification that takes longer.”

Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize’s spokesperson, Dr Lwazi Manzi, said Gauteng only submitted the report of the updated figures on Sunday.

Verified

“Gauteng has now handed in their updated deaths which will be verified and published in today’s statement,” Manzi said on Sunday mid-morning.

Asked about the latest death figures for Gauteng, Manzi declined to disclose the numbers, adding that only Mkhize has the authority to make the announcement.

According to the latest Covid-19 figures released by Mkhize on Saturday night, Gauteng has 59 373 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 282 deaths and 15 935 recoveries. The deaths figure has stayed the same since Thursday evening.

The province has the second highest number of infections in the country after the Western Cape, which has 68 376 infections and 2 026 deaths.

The country has 187 977 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 3 026 deaths as of Saturday.

The national department usually releases its daily Covid-19 figures late in the evening each day.

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