South Africa set a new national high of Covid-19 cases, with 26,976 infections which have led to 54 deaths on Wednesday, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) announced on Thursday.
While Gauteng province continued to be the hotspot with 8,021 new infections, KwaZulu-Natal trailed with 5,924 cases, the Western Cape registered 4,455 infections and Mpumalanga had 1,447 cases, the NICD said in a statement.
The good news, however, was that it appeared the fourth wave of infections was not as severe as in the previous three waves, the agency said.
“Though the data is still being gathered, evidence suggests the current wave may be milder.”
Gauteng, specifically, appeared to have “fewer hospitalisations and deaths in comparison to previous waves,” the institute said.
The 54 people who succumbed due to Covid-19 complications on Wednesday brought the death toll to 90,226 since the first case of the disease was reported in the country in March 2020, the NICD said.
NM/jn/APA