South Africa has reported 291 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 986 892.

This increase represents a 4.1% positivity rate.

On Monday, the Department of Health reported 16 deaths and of these three deaths occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours.

The cumulative COVID-19 deaths are 101 620 to date.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (40%), followed by the Western Cape (15%).

KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 13%; North West accounted for 11%; Free State accounted for 8%; Eastern Cape accounted for 5%; Mpumalanga accounted for 4%; Northern Cape accounted for 2%; and Limpopo accounted for 1% of new cases

“The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 4.1%, and is lower than yesterday (7.1%). The 7-day average is 7.9% today, and is lower than yesterday (8.1%),” the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said.

There has been an increase of 31 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

South Africa has to date conducted 25 604 409 tests in both public and private sectors.

Source: South African Government News Agency