"We remain concerned about the developments in the Western Cape, with the total cumulative cases now comprising almost 60 percent of the national cumulative cases, and the new cases from Western Cape comprising 76 percent of the new cases from the past 24-hour cycle," Mkhize said in a statement.

"Regrettably, we report a further three Covid-19-related deaths. This brings the total national deaths to 264. We wish to express our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the healthcare workers who cared for the deceased." 

The provincial breakdown of confirmed cases was as follows: 

Eastern Cape - 124 new cases; total cases 1936; percentage 12,5

Free State - 5; 158; 1.0

Gauteng - 67; 2329; 15

KwaZulu-Natal - 45; 1543; 9.9

Limpopo - 18; 77; 0.5

Mpumalanga - 3; 71; 0.5

North West - 6; 70; 0.5

Northern Cape - 2; 37; 0.2

Western Cape - 890; 9294; 59.9

A total of 460,873 tests have been conducted with 21,314 done in the past 24-hour cycle.

The total number of recoveries to date was 7006. The provincial breakdown of reported deaths and recoveries was as follows:

Eastern Cape - 35 deaths; 839 recoveries

Free State - 6; 108

Gauteng - 25; 1583

KwaZulu-Natal - 45; 817

Limpopo - 3; 37

Mpumalanga - 0; 49

North West - 1; 28

Northern Cape - 0; 24

Western Cape - 149; 3521

Of the 264 deaths, 146 (56 percent) were male and 116 (44 percent) were female. The age distribution of deaths was as follows:

0-9 (0) (0 percent)

10-19 (0) (0 percent)

20-29 (1) (0.4 percent)

30-39 (15) (5.7 percent)

40-49 (34) (12.9 percent)

50-59 (55) (20.8 percent)

60-69 (66) (25 percent)

70-79 (58) (22 percent)

80-89 (27) (10.2 percent)

90-99 (8) (3 percent)

African News Agency