South Africa reports 260 new COVID-19 deaths

JOHANNESBURG

South Africa reported 260 new coronavirus-related deaths Thursday, taking the country’s total number of fatalities to 11,270, the health minister announced.

Zweli Mkhize said 68 of the deaths were recorded in Eastern Cape Province, 62 in Free State Province and 30 in Gauteng Province, which includes the capital Pretoria and economic hub Johannesburg.

Thirty-nine deaths were recorded in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal and 14 in Limpopo, 18 in Mpumalanga, 21 in Western Cape and eight in Northern Cape provinces.

Mkhize said the country also registered 3,946 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period -- the highest number this week, as cases had started to drop. The country now has 572,865 confirmed cases.

“The total number of tests conducted to date is 3.3 million, with 20,068 new tests conducted since the last report on Wednesday,” the minister said.

South Africa has the highest number of infections on the continent and is the fifth most-affected globally.