South Africa reports 194 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - South Africa recorded 194 coronavirus-related deaths in a 24-hour period Tuesday, bringing the country’s total number of fatalities to 50,271, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced.

Mkhize said the country also recorded 856 new COVID-19 cases after 23,753 new tests were conducted, pushing the number of confirmed infections to 1,514,815.

He said the highest number of deaths were recorded in Kwa-Zulu Natal province, where 80 people died from COVID-19 related illnesses in just 24 hours, followed by Gauteng province, which lost 43 lives, and the Free State province with 29 fatalities.

Limpopo lost 15 people and Western Cape 12, while seven people died in Northern Cape and eight in Eastern Cape.

North West and Mpumalanga provinces did not report any new deaths.

The minister said over 1.4 million people have recovered from the deadly virus, which represents a recovery rate of 94.6%.

Africa’s most developed economy, which also has the highest number of infections and deaths on the continent, has so far vaccinated 76,037 health care workers since the drive started two weeks ago.