More than 300 people have died from the coronavirus in the past 24-hour cycle, pushing South Africa’s cumulative death toll past 10,000.
The latest figures come amid a sense of optimism from the Health Department that the country may have staved off the worst-case scenario in the first peak of the pandemic.
More than half of the new deaths were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal, which accounts for 153 fatalities.
But the province is only home to 13% of the country’s 10,210 fatalities.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize visited KwaZulu-Natal this past week where he said he was satisfied with its state of readiness ahead of a projected peak in infections in the coming weeks.
There are now 553,188 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, after more than 7,000 new cases were picked up in the last day.
The recovery rate has continued to improve though, now hovering around 73%.
Globally, there are now 19,5 million cases and more than 724,000 people have died.
In Other News – Special Investigating Unit closing in on those involved in COVID-19 tender fraud
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says it’s probing about 26 allegations of corruption countrywide, linked to covid-19 relief funds.
In Gauteng alone, more than 160 companies are now being investigated for irregular tenders relating to personal protective equipment.
Gauteng has been looted the most, a R2-billion PPE tender scandal is being probed. continue reading
Source – EWN
