COVID-19 death toll rises by 345

The Department of Health on Tuesday said 345 more people have died of COVID-19-related illnesses, among them two children.

Of the additional deaths, 116 are from Gauteng, 97 from the Western Cape, 89 from KwaZulu-Natal and 43 from the Eastern Cape, bringing the tally to 8 884.

The KwaZulu-Natal Health Department said two children died from COVID-19, a three-month-old baby girl and a four-year-old boy.

The province explained that 89 deaths did not occur in the past 24 hours. “However, due to late reporting and a high number of patients dying as persons under investigation (PUIs), there is a delay in reporting them,” the KwaZulu-Natal Health Department said.

Meanwhile, with 4 456 new identified COVID-19 infections, the country now has 521 318 cases to date.

The hardest-hit provinces include Gauteng with 183 090 cases, Western Cape 97 261, KwaZulu-Natal 85 986 and Eastern Cape 79 844.

The Free State has had 24 333 infections since the outbreak, North West 20 270, Mpumalanga 15 716, Limpopo 9 389 and Northern Cape 5 379.

Fifty are still unallocated.

“The number of recoveries currently stands at 363 751 which translates to a recovery rate of 69.8%,” the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said.

In addition, the total number of tests conducted to date is 3 078 202 of which 19 507 were done since the last report.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 18 142 718 cases worldwide and 691 013 deaths.

“With over 18 million cases reported, and new cases rising by around 250 000 each day, now is not the time to be complacent,” WHO said.

“As some economies and societies open up, WHO continues to urge the public to remain vigilant and take precautions to avoid getting COVID-19; while urging countries to increase testing and contact tracing to ensure no cases are missed and ensure appropriate treatment is available.”