"With over 700,000 tests, it is a lot of tests done, we would at some point be bound to come across those kinds of hitches," Mkhize told reporters at the Sonstraal field hospital outside Paarl.

"We must just accept that we do not manufacture our own and therefore we do not have enough… We are going all out to source the materials. The issue of the backlog is a temporary problem for us. We will solve it," said the minister, who was touring the Western Cape for the second day.

Mkhize announced that the number of coronavirus infections countrywide had increased to 35,812 and said an update on fatalities would be given later. The Western Cape accounts for almost two-thirds of cases. 

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde on Tuesday said the province has recorded another 41 coronavirus deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities here to 403. The province has seen 23,095 infections, of which 1,008 were recorded in the last 24 hours.

Due to the shortage of testing material, the province on Tuesday issued health guidelines limiting testing to those who had symptoms and were either in hospital, were health-care workers, residents of old-age homes, over the age of 55 or under 55 but with underlying health conditions.

Mkhize said while the country sourced more diagnostic material, all people presenting with possible Covid-19 would be treated on the assumption that they were positive for the virus, and would be isolated to ensure there was no risk of them potentially transmitting it to other members of the community.

"The doctor will assume the patient has got the infection and manage the patient until the result comes… make sure that they are isolated and don't spread the infection… The test then becomes a supplementary support for the doctor," he said.

"Even if they (patients) don't have symptoms, it is only safe to release them after 14 days."

Mkhize on Tuesday toured the Winelands area of the province, which has seen large outbreaks among farming communities, after visiting field hospitals in the Cape Town area. Both the city and rural district have been designated as coronavirus hotspots.

He said despite the surge of cases in the province, he was sure the situation could be brought under control, and he hoped the Western Cape would serve as an example to the rest of the country in this regard eventually.

But he cautioned that apart from the intensive health interventions in the province, "social, behavioural change" from its residents was required to contain the spread of the disease.

The health minister has the power, in terms of the regulations governing the country's Covid-19 lockdown, to recommend to Cabinet that a district or region return to a higher level of restrictions.

South Africa on Monday moved to level 3 after two months of draconian restrictions, allowing most sectors of the economy to reopen.

This included the resumption of alcohol sales, though only from Mondays to Thursdays.

Winde on Monday said the province would monitor the impact of the alcohol trade on levels of violence because it did not want the hospitals in the province to experience an increase in trauma admissions that would take up the emergency room beds available for coronavirus patients.

"We will be keeping a close eye on the situation as alcohol is responsible for many harms in our communities, including violence, abuse and road accidents. All of these have the potential to result in increased pressure on our hospital facilities," he said.

"If we find that alcohol is not used responsibly, and there is an associated increase in trauma cases at our hospitals, we will explore the options available to reduce this impact." 

Mkhize also cautioned against alcohol abuse and appealed to people not to "panic buy" liquor as trade resumes after more than two months.

African News Agency