He said that the visits at the weekend would be followed by presidential visits to both provinces later next week. 

"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." 

Looking at the numbers of Covid-19 infections in the provinces, the Western Cape leads with 4,497 about 50% of national infections, followed by Gauteng with 1,851, KwaZulu-Natal 1,253 infections, Eastern Cape with 989 cases and Free State with 133. 

Mpumalanga has 60 confirmed Covid-19 cases, the highest of the provinces that have fortunately not reached the 100 mark, followed by Limpopo with 43 cases, North West with 42 and Northern Cape with just 27.

The number of deaths has also increased with 17 occurring in the past 24 hours. 

"Regrettably, we report 17 more Covid-19 related deaths: three from Eastern Cape, three from Gauteng, two from KZN and nine from Western Cape. This brings the total national deaths to 178," Mkhize said.

"We wish to express our condolences to the loved ones of the deceased and thank the healthcare workers who treated these patients."

The minister said that the health sector was following more stringent verification processes to establish the cause of deaths and that there has been a delay in reporting deaths as a result. 

The provincial breakdown of the number of deaths is as follows: Eastern Cape 21, Free State 6, Gauteng 18, KZN 42, Limpopo 3, Western Cape 88. Three provinces, Mpumalanga, North West and Northern Cape, have still not reported any deaths.

A total of 307,752 tests have been conducted to date with 15,599 tests done in the past 24 hours 

"We are also pleased to report that, as of 5 May, 8,216,605 citizens have been screened across the country," Mkhize said. 

"As of 7 May we had 435 patients in hospital of which 45 were in high care, 77 were in ICU and, of those, 40 were being ventilated. Our hospitalisation rate remains at 5% of all Covid-19 diagnosed patients.

"As I indicated earlier this week in Rustenburg, we will be embarking on oversight visits to the Eastern Cape and Western Cape this weekend. 

"These will be followed by Presidential visits to both provinces later next week," the minister said. 

He said that the provinces had recorded the highest new cases in the past 24 hours and that in addition, the Western Cape recorded the highest number of deaths in the same period. 

It also had the highest death toll to date in the country, with 88 deaths recorded, more than double that of KZN which came in second with 42 deaths.

"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. 

Mkhize said that good work had been done by the leadership in the provinces and he acknowledged the "commitment and hard work of our health professionals and frontline workers - both in public and private sectors". 

"We look forward to bolstering the efforts already in place to curb the further spread of Covid-19," Mkhize said.

African News Agency (ANA)