SA's Covid-19 fatalities are approaching the 17,000 mark, with 132 new deaths recorded in the past 24 hours.

There were also 1,745 new cases of the disease recorded since Wednesday night, taking the country's total to 676,084. Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize released the latest figures shortly before 10pm on Thursday.

Of the newly recorded deaths, 41 were Mpumalanga, 49 in KwaZulu-Natal, eight Gauteng, seven each in the North West and the Northern Cape, six in the Western Cape and 14 in the Free State.

“This brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 16,866. Our recoveries stand at 609,854, which translates to a recovery rate of 90%," said Mkhize.

The figures are based on 4,209,049 total tests, of which 21,132 fell in the latest  24-hour cycle.

TimesLIVE