17 July
South Africa on Thursday reported a record high of 216 new COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 4,669, according to the country's health ministry.
Meanwhile, 13,172 newly confirmed cases were reported, taking its total to 324,221, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in his daily update.
Gauteng, the smallest and most populous province in the country, is the worst hit among all nine provinces. It registered 5,181 new cases in the past day, raising its total infections to 117,895.
Mkhize said the total number of recoveries nationwide has reached 165,591, with a recovery rate of 51 percent.
The country has so far conducted 2,324,923 tests for the virus, with 46,796 new tests conducted since Wednesday, he added.
South Africa, the hardest hit country on the African continent, has overtaken Britain and Spain in the last 48 hours to rank eighth on the global tally of COVID-19 infections. It has ranked fifth in terms of active COVID-19 cases.
However, its mortality rate is among the lowest globally.
xinhua
