As of Friday, the number of confirmed coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in South Africa was 688,532, with 1641 new cases identified. The number of Covid-19-related deaths increased by 139, bringing the total to 17,547, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

The provincial breakdown was as follows:

Eastern Cape – 90,479 (13.1 percent)

Free State – 49,966 (7.3)

Gauteng – 222,374 (32.3)

KwaZulu-Natal – 120,160 (17.5)

Limpopo – 16,133 (2.3)

Mpumalanga – 28,006 (4.1)

North West – 30,522 (4.4)

Northern Cape – 18,628 (2.7)

Western Cape – 112,264 (16.3 percent)

Unknown – 0 (0.0)

A total of 4,360,105 tests had been processed to date, of which 20,419 had been conducted since the previous report on Thursday.

“Regrettably, we report 139 more Covid-19-related deaths – 23 from the Eastern Cape, three from the Free State, 65 from KwaZulu-Natal, 28 from Gauteng, four from Limpopo, seven from the North West, four from the Northern Cape, and five from the Western Cape. This brings the total number of Covid-19-related deaths to 17,547. Our recoveries now stand at 620,081, which translates to a recovery rate of 90 percent,” Mkhize said.

The provincial breakdown was as follows:

Eastern Cape – 3186 deaths, 85,301 recoveries, and 1992 active cases.

Free State – 1093 deaths, 35,417 recoveries, and 13,456 active cases

Gauteng – 4414 deaths, 198,191 recoveries, and 19,669 active cases

KwaZulu-Natal – 2990 deaths, 111,509 recoveries, and 5661 active cases

Limpopo – 425 deaths, 15,093 recoveries, and 615 active cases

Mpumalanga – 581 deaths, 26,554 recoveries, and 871 active cases

North West – 382 deaths, 27,621 recoveries, and 2519 active cases

Northern Cape – 232 deaths, 15,388 recoveries, and 3008 active cases

Western Cape – 4244 deaths, 104,907 recoveries, and 3113 active cases

Source: ANA