SA records more than 100 Covid-19 related deaths in a day

Published Jun 23, 2020

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Johannesburg – The country recorded 111 more Covid-19-related deaths, bringing the total number of deaths to 2 102, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday. 

This is the first time South Africa has recorded a triple-digit death toll in one day – one from Mpumalanga, four from KwaZulu-Natal, 28 from the Eastern Cape and 78 from the Western Cape. 

Mkhize said the cumulative number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 106 108 – a big jump from yesterday's 101 590 cases.

The current mortality rate is 2%, while the number of recoveries is 55 045, which translates to a recovery rate of 51.9%. A total of 1 382 772 tests have been completed, of which 29 596 tests are new.

Data supplied by the Department of Health

The Western Cape also reached another bleak Covid-19 milestone on Tuesday as it recorded its 1 500th death.

The province recorded 76 new deaths since Monday – a daily record. It also set new highs for people in hospital (1 653) and in intensive care (326).

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma told the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday nothing could have prepared the country for the pandemic.

"Even in the most advanced economies in the world, they have been found wanting in their response to the pandemic. In general, they have mounted a mix stimulus package in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the virus and jump-start their declining economies. 

"Nothing could have prepared us to deal with this virus. Not since the Spanish flu, which was more than 100 years ago," she said.

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