JOHANNESBURG

South Africa has recorded over one million cumulative cases of the novel coronavirus since it was first detected in March, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced Sunday.

"As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 1,004,413. We must adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the further spread of the virus," Mkhize said while delivering his daily COVID-19 update to the nation.

Mkhize also said that 214 people had died of COVID-19 on Sunday, pushing the total number of fatalities to 26,735, while the number of recoveries now totals 844,874.

South Africa is currently undergoing a second wave of the pandemic. The country experienced the peak of its first wave between July and August.

Last week, Mkhize said scientists had found a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, in South Africa which is currently termed 501.V2.

"Scientists reportedly noticed that a particular variant has increasingly dominated the findings of the samples collected in the past two months,” he said.

South Africa has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths on the continent and is the 18th most affected country worldwide.