"Regrettably, we report eight more Covid-19-related deaths - three from the Western Cape, one from the Eastern Cape, and four from Gauteng. This brings the total national deaths to 194. We wish to express our condolences to the loved ones of the deceased and thank the healthcare workers who treated these patients. We are, however, encouraged by the number of recoveries which was 4173 as at 9 May 2020," he said in a statement.

A total of 341,336 tests had been conducted to date, with 17,257 tests done relative to the last report on Saturday. This was a record high for a 24-hour cycle of testing. The private sector accounted for 168,539 (49 percent) of all tests to date and 7,642 (44 percent) of the new tests. The public sector accounted for 172,797 tests (51 percent) and 9615 (56 percent) of the new tests.

"We note with concern that the Western Cape and Eastern Cape combined comprises 84 percent of the total new cases," Mkhize said.

The provincial breakdown of confirmed cases was as follows:

Eastern Cape - 1218

Free State - 135

Gauteng - 1952

KwaZulu-Natal - 1353

Limpopo - 54

Mpumalanga - 61

North West - 45

Northern Cape - 29

Western Cape - 5168

The breakdown of provincial deaths and recoveries were as follows:

Eastern Cape - 22  deaths and 519 recoveries

Free State - 6 deaths and 105 recoveries

Gauteng - 22 deaths and 1247 recoveries

KwaZulu-Natal - 43 deaths and 606 recoveries

Limpopo - 3 deaths and 28 recoveries

Mpumalanga - 0 deaths and 22 recoveries

North West - 0 deaths and 23 recoveries

Northern Cape - 0 deaths and 16 recoveries

Western Cape - 98 deaths and 1607 recoveries

African News Agency