As the country prepares to move from level 4 to an alert level 3 lockdown restrictions on 1 June, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday night said the government was concerned about the situation in the Western Cape, which now accounted for about 60% of infections in South Africa.

The Western Cape has 15,396 followed in order by Gauteng with 2,993, Eastern Cape with  2,748, KwaZulu-Natal 1,882, Free State (208), Limpopo (132), North West (109), Mpumalanga (102) and Northern Cape (45). 

The Western Cape has seen 318 Covid-19 related fatalities to date. The government has designated it one of the country's coronavirus hotspots, which are defined as having an infection rate of higher than five out of 100,000 people in the region's population.

Other designated hotspots the president listed in his address to the nation on Sunday were Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ethekwini, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City.

The health minister said that a total of 596,777 tests had been conducted to date - 12,992 of the tests were done in the past 24-hour testing cycle, with 58% conducted by the private sector and 42% by the public sector.

"Regrettably, we report 52 more Covid-19 related deaths", bringing the tally to 481, the minister said.

"We wish to express our condolences to the loved ones of the deceased and thank the health care workers who treated these patients," he said. The number of recoveries was 11,917, Mkhize said.

African News Agency