This is according to the latest figures released by Health Minister Zweli Mhkize, which showed that South Africa's death toll has climbed to 6 655.

"Regrettably we report 312 new Covid-19 related deaths: 44 from Eastern Cape, 209 from Gauteng, 37 from KwaZulu-Natal, 18 from Western Cape and 4 from Northern Cape. This brings the cumulative number of deaths to 6 655."

A cumulative total of 434 200 infections have been recorded, with 12 204 new cases identified.

The total number of tests conducted to date is 2 730 812 with 46 324 new tests conducted since the last report.

The number of recoveries currently stands at 263 054, which translates to a recovery rate of 60.6%.

News24