Johannesburg - Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced an increase of 143 new cases, taking South Africa's tally of confirmed cases to 2 415 from 2 272 on Monday.
Mkhize said the country had now undertaken more than 87 000 tests.
He said the Gauteng province remained the province with the leading number of cases at over 900, with the Western Cape at over 600 cases and KwaZulu-Natal, just under 500.
On Monday night, Professor Karim had highlighted Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, as the country's Covid-19 hotspots.
Provincial Breakdown
Gauteng 909
Western Cape 643
KZN 489
Eastern Cape 174
Free State 98
Limpopo 24
Mpumalanga 22
North West 22
Northern Cape 16
Unallocated 18
The country's death tally stands at 27.
On Monday afternoon, Mkhize confirmed a 68-year-old man from the Western Cape and a 57-year-old man from Gauteng were the latest fatalities, taking the death toll to 27.
While the Western Cape patient had a history of underlying health problems, Mkhize said the Gauteng patient was a cause for concern as there was no history of underlying health problems.
Mkhize said more than 4 000 people have been referred for testing as a result of the widespread screening process tking place across the country. A team of 10 654 tracers are tasked with tracking the contacts of confirmed cases and ensuring that they are tested.
He said the massive increase in the number of tests conducted is due to the mass roll-out programme which got of the ground across the country last week.
Globally, there have been more than 1.9 million people who have tested positive for Covid-19. There have been just over 120 000 deaths and close to 460 000 recoveries.
IOL
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