Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize on Thursday has said he is concerned by the high number of Covid-19 cases in the Western Cape, saying the government would have to adopt measures to deal more strongly with “cluster outbreaks” of infections in the province.

Mkhize on Thursday announced that the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases had increased to 8,232, a jump of 424 infections within 24 hours.

A provincial breakdown of the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is as follows: Eastern Cape 929, Free State has 134, Gauteng 1,804, KwaZulu-Natal 1,204 and Western Cape, which has recorded the highest number of infections, stands at 3,994.

All the other provinces have recorded infection figures below 100, with Mpumalanga at 59, Limpopo at 41, North West at 40 and Northern Cape with 40 infections.

Since Wednesday, 12,774 new tests have been completed bringing the total number of tests thus far to 292.153. Roughly 50 percent of all testing is done by the private sector.

The minister said in his daily update to the nation on the country’s Covid-19 statistics that the eight new deaths from the virus were regrettable. This takes the number of deaths to 161.

“We wish to express our condolences to the loved ones of the deceased and thank the health care workers who treated these patients.”

The number of deaths by province are Eastern Cape 18, Free State, 6, Gauteng 15, KwaZulu-Natal 40, Western Cape 79 and Limpopo 3. To date, Mpumalanga, North West and Northern Cape have not recorded any deaths from Covid-19, the statement said.

Source: ANA