08 May 2020

As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa is 8895.
Case Data

Provinces Total cases for 8 May 2020
Eastern Cape 989
Free State 133
Gauteng 1851
KwaZulu-Natal 1253
Limpopo 43
Mpumalanga 60
North West 42
Northern Cape 27
Western Cape 4497
Unknown 0
Total 8895

Testing Data
A total of 307 752 tests have been conducted to date with 15 599 tests done in the past 24
hours

Sector Total tested New tested
Private 153595 50% 6 821 44%
Public 154157 50% 8778 56%
Grand Total 307752 15599

 

We are also pleased to report that, as of 5 May, 8 216 605 citizens have been screened
across the country.

As of 7th May we had 435 patients in hospital of which 45 were in high care, 77 were in ICU
and, of those, 40 were being ventilated. Our hospitalization rate remains at 5% of all COVID-
19 diagnosed patients.

Reported COVID-19 Deaths:
Regrettably, we report 17 more COVID-19 related deaths: 3 from Eastern Cape, 3 from
Gauteng, 2 from KZN and 9 from Western Cape. This brings the total national deaths to 178.
There has been a delay in reporting some of these deaths due to the stringent verification
processes we had undertaken.

We wish to express our condolences to the loved ones of the deceased and thank the health
care workers who treated these patients.

The provincial breakdown is as follows:

Province Deaths
Eastern Cape 21
Free State 6
Gauteng 18
KwaZulu Natal 42
Limpopo 3
Mpumalanga 0
North West 0
Northern Cape 0
Western Cape 88
Total 178

Upcoming Visits to the Eastern Cape and Western Cape
As I indicated earlier this week in Rustenburg, we will be embarking on oversight visits to the
Eastern Cape and Western Cape this weekend.

These will be followed by Presidential visits to both provinces later next week.
The provinces have recorded the two highest new cases in the past 24 hours with Western
Cape accounting for 76% of new cases and the Eastern Cape accounting for 9% of new
cases.

In addition, the Western Cape has just over 50% of the COVID-19 burden in South Africa,
recording the highest deaths as well.
With interprovincial movement between these provinces being an issue, it will be crucial for
us to understand the dynamics driving the epidemic in this region and assist where necessary.
We know that a lot of good work has been done by the leadership of these provinces. We
also acknowledge the commitment and hard work of our health professionals and frontline
workers- both in public and private sectors.

We look forward to bolstering the efforts already in place to curb further spread of COVID-19.
Dr Zwelini Mkhize

Minister of Health
ENDS….