Johannesburg - South Africa now has over 8800 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus and 17 more deaths, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Friday night.
Mkhize said there were 663 new infections, taking the total cases to 8895, while there were also 17 more deaths, taking the death toll to 178.
The minister said the 17 new deaths came from:
Western Cape - 9 deaths
Eastern Cape - 3 deaths
Gauteng - 3 deaths
KZN - 2 deaths
The country is currently in Day 43 of its national lockdown which was instituted to curb the spread of the virus.
Last Friday, South Africa eased into level 4 of the national lockdown and allowed just over one million workers to return to work, after instituting the strict level 5 lockdown for 35 days.
In easing into level 4 of the lockdown, the wearing of cloth masks became compulsory for all who were in public. Shops are refusing to serve those who do not cover their faces.
On the last week of the level 5 lockdown, South Africa saw 1 694 new infections - between April 24 and April 30.
In the same period, there were 24 Covid-19 related deaths.
And as the country entered into the level 4 lockdown, the cases have not slowed, with 3248 cases and 75 deaths recorded in just 8 days between May 1 and May 8.
Mkhize said over 307 000 people had now been tested for the virus, with the last 15 000 tests conducted over the last 24 hours.
LATEST BREAKDOWN
New Deaths
New Cases
Total Cases
Total Deaths
South Africa
17
663
8895
178
W Cape
9
503
4497
88
Gauteng
3
131
1851
18
KZN
2
49
1253
42
E Cape
3
60
989
18
Free State
0
0
133
6
Mpumalanga
0
1
60
0
Limpopo
0
2
43
3
N West
0
2
42
0
N Cape
0
0
27
0
On Thursday, Mkhize announced that he would be accompanying President Cyril Ramaphosa for a visit to the Western Cape. On Friday, he said this visit would now also extend to the Eastern Cape.
“The provinces have recorded the two highest new cases in the past 24 hours with Western Cape accounting for 76% of new cases and the Eastern Cape accounting for 9% of new cases.
“In addition, the Western Cape has just over 50% of the COVID-19 burden in South Africa, recording the highest deaths as well.
“With interprovincial movement between these provinces being an issue, it will be crucial for us to understand the dynamics driving the epidemic in this region and assist where necessary. We know that a lot of good work has been done by the leadership of these provinces.
“We also acknowledge the commitment and hard work of our health professionals and frontline workers - both in public and private sectors," said the minister.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa announced earlier on Friday that as many as 19 000 prisoners who had committed petty crimes could potentially be released.
Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said the prisoners would not be released immediately, and it explained that they would still have to go through the normal processes with the parole board before their potential release.
He said those who had been convicted for violent crimes, including murder and rape, would not be considered for release under the special parole dispensation. He said the process to de-congest prisons in the battle against the virus would take upto 10 weeks.