According to the latest update, 11 270 deaths have been recorded in the country. There have been 437 617 recoveries.

So far, over 3.3 million tests have been conducted, with more than 20 000 new tests reported.

Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has promised lifestyle audits, procurement pre-audits and action against corrupt officials, as government departments come under fire over rampant looting during Covid-19.

"We made a commitment that we will evaluate some of the contracts, even before they are in a queue. We are now doing that with regard to Covid-19 but, going forward, this must continue. Pre-auditing must continue going forward," Zikalala said.

Speaking at the eThekwini Disaster Management Centre in Durban, Zikalala presented a procurement disclosure report to the media. The 16-page report gives a detailed description of Covid-19 procurement in all provincial government departments.

In it, Zikalala revealed there had been nearly R3 billion in expenditure funds used throughout the province by 27 July. Of this, municipalities spent R925 271 000 and public entities spent R4million while the remaining nearly R2 billion came from provincial departments.

About 57% of the nearly R2 billion spent by provincial departments was for infrastructure, something Zikalala said would benefit the province in the long term.

Gauteng needs to continue conducting itself and behaving like it is still the epicentre of Covid-19 in South Africa - the province must do this even though there is a reduction in the rate of infections, says Premier David Makhura.

Makhura was speaking during the provincial command council's weekly Covid-19 update on Thursday.

The provincial advisory committee revealed at the briefing there was a new modelling and infection trajectory, suggesting that the province was able to handle the surge and that cases were now declining.

But Makhura cautioned that even though there seemed to be light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel, it was still early days and people should not let their guard down, because of the province's size and population density.

The committee said new predictions and modelling indicated that the province was able to remove cases in identified hotspots, which pointed to a decline of the infection rate and transmission.

The committee's Professor Bruce Mellado, said the province appeared ready to relax lockdown regulations, but only gradually.

News24