South Africa records over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa recorded 2,080 new cases of the novel coronavirus in a day, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 769,759, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced late Monday.

“We have registered a positivity rate of 14%, which is concerning,’’ Mkhize said, adding the new cases came out of only 14,377 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

The minister also announced that 65 more people had succumbed to the virus, pushing the total number of fatalities to 20,968.

Mkhize said some 711,195 people have recovered from COVID-19 while over 5 million people have been tested since the virus was first detected in the country eight months ago.

Health experts fear cases of new infections may spike as city dwellers travel to rural areas this festive season to celebrate with their families.

South Africa has the highest number of COVID-19 cases on the continent and is the 16th most affected country globally.