South Africa has recorded a cumulative total of 622 551 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country.

The total number of tests conducted to date is 3 652 970 with 20 659 new tests conducted since August 28, the Health Department has confirmed.

The recoveries now stand at 536 694 which translates to a recovery rate of 86 percent.

Regrettably, 238 more Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, with 19 from KwaZulu-Natal, 81 from Gauteng, six from Eastern Cape, nine from Western Cape and 123 from the Free State.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 13 981.

Good news could be on the horizon as newly released antibody tests for Covid-19 might be the weapon South African needs to better prepare if the country is hit by a second wave.

There is debate whether South Africa will experience a second wave and what it will look like, the Saturday Star reported.

Some researchers believe that because the country went into early lockdown, it might be spared that second surge.

Others think it is going to be a slow burn rate of infections that will be with us for at least the next three years.

Prof Alex Welte, of the South African Centre of Excellence for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis, believes that wave is coming.

“So we know there’s going to be a second wave and we know we’re going to have more information this time,” he says. “But we need to feel more empowered to manage the next wave more rationally, so it has less of an economic impact and we are more effective. And that is the important use of these tests.”