A total of 40 654 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, with 4 322 new cases being identified in South Africa in the last 24 hours.

This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 568 900.

In a statement on Wednesday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said this increase represents a 10.6% positivity rate.

Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), the institute said there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported.

The Department of Health said 156 deaths have been reported and of these, 36 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours, and this brings the total fatalities to 93 707 deaths to date.

“The cumulative number of recoveries now stand at 3 390 027 with a recovery rate of 95%. More than 29 million vaccine doses have been administered,” the department reported.

Source: South African Government News Agency