Johannesburg - One more person has died from the rapidly spreading Covid-19 coronavirus is South Africa, taking the countries virus death toll to 12 deaths after 1686 confirmed cases.
The 31 new cases that were confirmed came from five provinces, KwaZulu-Natal with 11 new cases, Western Cape with 9, Gauteng with 8, the Free State with 2 new cases and 1 from the Eastern Cape.
The latest death was that of a 57-year-old man from the Western Cape who had been admitted to hospital on Sunday. The man had a history of diabetes and ischaemic heart disease, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize in a statement.
“He had comorbidities that included diabetes and ischaemic heart disease. We convey our condolences to the family of the deceased. We must also not forget to appreciate the health workers that treated the deceased patient”.
Around the world, more than 1.3 million patients have tested positive for Covid-19, with over 74 000 deaths - with the vast majority of deaths now confined to Italy, Spain and the USA - with each of those three countries having upwards of 10 000 deaths each.
Spain and Italy have over 130 000 confirmed cases, while the USA has over 360 000 cases.
The latest figures which were released by the ministry showed that the Gauteng province continued to be the province with the most cases, followed by the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Gauteng - 713 - 8 new cases
Western Cape - 462 - 9 new cases
KZN - 257 - 11 new cases
Free State - 89 - 2 new cases
Eastern Cape - 32 - one new cases
Limpopo - 19 - no new case
Mpumalanga - 18 - no new case
North West - 11 - no new case
Northern Cape - 8 - no new case
Unallocated - 77
Meanwhile, the Western Cape government said on Monday that at least 12 people were in intensive care unit in hospitals around the province.