South Africa: Mkhize explains reason for rise in Covid-19 deaths

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 08:20 am

A total of 160 more Covid-19-related deaths have been recorded since the last report, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday, who admitted that there has been an investigation into the ’’noticeable increase in the number of deaths recently’’.

A total of 105 deaths were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal, 18 in the Eastern Cape, 6 in the Free State, 13 in Gauteng, 6 in Limpopo, 4 in Mpumalanga and 8 in the Western Cape.

The cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases has risen to 686 891, with 1 736 new cases identified since the last report.

The number of recoveries now stand at 618 771, which translates to a recovery rate of 90%.

‘’There has been a noticeable increase in the number of deaths recently which caused us concern as we have received reports from the Medical Research Council (MRC) that there have been no excess deaths for three weeks in a row,“ Mkhize said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported a record one-day increase in global coronavirus cases on Thursday, with the total rising by 338 779 in 24 hours.

Deaths rose by 5 514 to a total of 1.05 million. India reported 78 524 new cases, followed by Brazil at 41 906 and the United States with 38 904 new infections.

The previous WHO record for new cases was 330 340 on 2 October. The agency reported a record 12 393 deaths on April 17.

(IOL)