The number of Covid-19 fatalities in South Africa has risen by seven, bringing the local death toll in the global pandemic to 34, while the confirmed infections have risen to 2,506, the ministry of health said on Wednesday.
The ministry said it was "saddened to report" the increase in COVID-19 related deaths, and confirmed that six of these occurred in KwaZulu-Natal. One death related to the novel coronavirus was recorded in Gauteng.
The number of tests conducted now stood at 90,515, the ministry said.
The Eastern Cape Health MEC has confirmed two deaths of Coronavirus at the Livingstone Hospital, which still does not reflect on the National stats.
MEC Sindiswa Gomba said the process of reporting is quite cumbersome, leading to delays.
Gomba said that is why the province decided to confirm the information as it's confirmed locally and becomes available.
She said the process following a death could be anything from an autopsy, test analysis or documentation that needs to be finalised to confirm that the patient indeed died from the Coronavirus.
Many patients have died from complications to COVID19 as they had underlying conditions such as cancer or diabetes.
