South Africa recorded 1 481 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 728 689 since the start of the pandemic.

The increase represents a 5.8% positivity rate, according to the Department of Health.

The majority of new cases on Thursday were from Gauteng (40%), followed by Kwa-Zulu Natal (24%).

The North West accounted for 31 new cases, the Eastern Cape had 88, Free State 40, Gauteng 590, Western Cape 341, Limpopo 21, Mpumalanga 48, Northern Cape 12 and KwaZulu-Natal had 310.

The department said five deaths were reported bringing the total number of fatalities to 100 075.

There has been an increase of 55 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours, while the cumulative number of recoveries stands at 3 615 531 with a recovery rate of 97.0%.

Source: South African Government News Agency