Covid-19 in SA: 188 deaths, 903 more infections, as recovery rate hits 90%

A minibus taxi on Military Road, Steenberg, is seen hustling for passengers with the guard wearing a mask and gloves. Picture: Tracey Adams/African News Agency (ANA)

A minibus taxi on Military Road, Steenberg, is seen hustling for passengers with the guard wearing a mask and gloves. Picture: Tracey Adams/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Sep 28, 2020

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Johannesburg - Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced 188 more Covid-19 related deaths and 903 new infections on Monday night.

This takes South Africa’s Covid-19 death toll to 16 586, and infections to over 671 669.

Mkhize said 178 of the new deaths came from the Free State province, but also explained that there has been a two week delay in the statistics for that province.

“There has been a two week delay in the reporting of Free State deaths as the province collated data from the various districts and verified this against Home Affairs Data.

“This is part of efforts to improve the quality of data by aligning information from facilities with Home Affairs statistics.

“Data from postmortem swabs also had to be collated and verified. This is in line with the recommendations of the Medical Research Council.

“The data is now up to date,” said the minister.

South Africa has the tenth most Covid-19 infections in the world, behind the USA, Brazil, India, Russia. Peru, Columbia, Mexico, Spain and Argentina.

New infections are slowing in the country and the country has been on alert level 1 of the lockdown for about a week as a result.

The Department of Health said it had now tested over 4.1 million people in the private and public sector, with almost 9 000 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

South Africa’s coronavirus death toll now stands at 16 586.

The Gauteng province now has the most deaths, with 4205, followed by the Western Cape, with 4167, Eastern Cape with 3113 and KZN, with 2627, have the most fatalities in the country.

Of the latest 188 deaths, Mkhize said the majority of the deceased came from the Free State, with 178 deaths.

Deaths by province:

Free State - 178

Western Cape - 4

Eastern Cape - 3

Gauteng - 2

KZN - 1

“We extend our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the healthcare workers that treated the deceased patients.

“Our recoveries now stand at 604 478 which translates to a recovery rate of 90%,” said Mkhize.

IOL

Related Topics:

LockdownCovid-19