The Health Department has announced that the number of COVID-19 infections in South Africa has risen to 2173

This is an increase of 145 cases from Saturday’s announcement of 2,028

The number of deaths from COVID-19 in SA remains at 24.

Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize says the total number of COVID-19 tests conducted to date is 80,085. This is an increase of 5,005 from the last report.

“We are also seeing an increase in tests conducted at public laboratories. Of the 5,032 tests conducted in the past day, 3,192 were done in public laboratories.”

Gauteng has the most infections with 865, followed by the Western Cape at 587, KwaZulu-Natal 443, Free State 96, North West 19, Mpumalanga 21, Limpopo 23, Eastern Cape 88, Northern Cape 16 and unallocated infections 15.

On Thursday President Cyril Ramaphosa extended the national lock down by an additional two weeks beyond the initial 21 days asking the country to make “greater sacrifices” to save thousands of lives.

Faizel Patel

(Twitter: @FaizelPatel143)