More than 11,500 Covid-19 cases recorded in 24 hours as infections continue to spike

SA recorded 11,535 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, as the numbers of confirmed cases continue to spike across the country.

The new infections also come at a worrying positivity rate of 22.4%.

Figures from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) show that there were 8,561 new cases recorded on Wednesday, nearly 3,000 fewer than on Thursday.

Gauteng continues to be the epicentre of the coronavirus's fourth wave, with 8,280 new cases recorded (up more than 2,000 from the 6,168 recorded on Wednesday). There were also significant increases in the Western Cape (from 626 on Wednesday to 727 on Thursday) and in KwaZulu-Natal (from 476 to 630).

The NICD also reported a spike in new hospital admissions in the past 24 hours, with 274 people admitted (up from 135 on Wednesday). There are 2,904 people being treated in hospital for Covid-19 related complications.

The NICD said that, according to health department data, there were 44 new Covid-19 related deaths in the past day.

This means that there have been 2,988,148 total cases and 89,915 fatalities recorded across the country to date.

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