South Africa reports 1,218 new COVID-19 cases

By Adam Abu-bashal

ABUJA

South Africa reported 1,218 new coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period, bringing the total number of infections to 628,259, the country’s Health Ministry said late Tuesday.

The ministry said 114 COVID-19 related deaths were also recorded, taking the total number of fatalities to 14,263.

The country has conducted over 3.7 million COVID-19 tests so far.

A total of 549,993 patients have recovered from the virus.

South Africa has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the continent and the fifth highest number globally.

The virus has claimed more than 853,000 lives in 188 countries and regions since December.

The US, Brazil, India and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 25.6 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries over 16.96 million, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.