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By IOL Reporter 
10h ago
Confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa currently stand at 659,656 and the death toll from the coronavirus stands at 15,940, the health department confirmed on Saturday.
During the past 24 hours, 2,029 new cases and 83 deaths were reported.
Gauteng, with 2,0203 current infections, remains the province with the highest number of active cases, while Limpopo has the lowest with 666.
With 14,658 cases in total, Limpopo is also the province that has seen the lowest total number of Covid-19 infections.
Of the 83 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, 52 were from KwaZulu-Natal, 18 from Limpopo, 5 from Gauteng and 4 each from the Eastern and Western Cape.
With 589,434 patients who have recovered from the virus, the recovery rate remains stable at 89.4%, considerably higher than in most other countries.
The total number of tests performed to date is 4,024,659 with 21,069 new tests performed since the last report, the department said.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says that very few people who died of natural causes outside hospitals subsequently tested positive for Covid-19.
According to Mkhize, the National Health Laboratory Services had conducted tests on people who had died of natural causes outside of hospitals when their Covid-19 status was unknown.
“The NHLS informs us that 86 deceased persons have been tested to date, of which 13 have been positive,” Mkhize said.
Mkhize’s comments, in response to a written question from the EFF in parliament, came after the Medical Research Council said there had been more than 33,000 deaths in the country.
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