Cape Town - South Africa has recorded 2 646 new cases and 86 more Covid-19 related cases over the past 24 hours, the Department of Health said on Saturday.
Of the 86 deaths recorded, 58 were in the Eastern Cape, 17 in the Free State 17, 9 in the Western Cape 9 and 2 in KwaZulu-Natal.
The cumulative number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 765 409, with 36 780 of these being currently active cases.
Case data by province
Of the new cases recorded on Saturday, 1 345 are from the Eastern Cape. The province also has the highest number of active cases, a whopping 10 412.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Friday expressed concern at the high number of new cases in the province.
At 6 826, the Western Cape currently has the second-highest number of active cases, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 6 021.
Testing data
“The cumulative number of tests conducted to date is 5 269 062 with 26 007 new tests conducted since the last report,” Mkhize said on Saturday.
Recoveries and deaths
To date, 707 784 patients have recovered from the virus and the recovery rate remains stable at 92,5%, Mkhize said.
The 86 deaths recorded on Saturday brings South Africa’s Covid-19 death toll to 20 845.
Of the 86 deaths, 22 reportedly occurred in the past 48 hours - 13 in the Eastern Cape, 8 in the Western Cape and 1 in KwaZulu-Natal, according to the health minister.
Race to ensure access to vaccine
President Xi Jinping has assured world leaders that China, which has five vaccines in Phase III trial, is ready to step up global Covid-19 vaccine cooperation.
"China is willing to strengthen cooperation with other countries in the research and development, production, and distribution of vaccines," Xi told the G20 virtual summit which is being hosted by Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile fears are rising that poorer countries will be left behind when the vaccines are ready for roll-out. The World health organization has championed a programme called COVAX which will govern how the vaccine is distributed. However, wealthy countries have already struck deals with top drugmakers for millions of doses.
IOL