Covid-19 death toll climbs by 50, cases pass 35,000

SA's Covid-19 death toll climbed to 755 on Tuesday night - an increase of 50 fatalities in the past 24 hours.

The number of cases of the respiratory illness increased from 34,357 on Monday to 35,812 on Tuesday.

Two children under the age of 10 died of Covid-19, the health ministry said on Tuesday night. Another three, aged between 10 and 19, also succumbed.

The age groups with the most deaths were 50-59 and 60-69 (with 197 fatalities each), followed by the 70-79 age group (with 143 fatalities).

The provincial breakdown of cases, deaths and recoveries was on Tuesday provided as:

• Western Cape — 23,583 cases, 568 deaths, 12,436 recoveries;
• Eastern Cape — 4,324 cases, 88 deaths, 2,123 recoveries;
• Gauteng — 4,276 cases, 33 deaths, 2,060 recoveries; 
• KwaZulu-Natal — 2,637 cases, 53 deaths, 1,248 recoveries;
• Free State — 299 cases, 8 deaths, 123 recoveries;
• North West — 271 cases, 1 death, 59 recoveries;
• Limpopo — 193 cases, 3 deaths, 145 recoveries;
• Mpumalanga — 132 cases, 0 deaths, 86 recoveries; and
• Northern Cape — 91 cases, 1 death, 33 recoveries.

Six cases were unallocated.

The figures are based on 761,534 tests, of which 18,792 tests were conducted in the last 24-hour reporting period.