There were 665 new coronavirus infections recorded on Thursday, said the office of health minister Zweli Mkhize.

This brings the total number of positive infections to 12,739 nationally.

Nineteen new fatalities were also reported on Thursday, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 238.

The Western Cape accounted for most of the fatalities, recording 12 deaths. There were 7,235 cases in the province, accounting for 56.8% of the total.

Gauteng had 2,135 cases (16.8%), the Eastern Cape 1,569 (12.3%) and KwaZulu-Natal 1,444 (11.3%).

More than 403,000 people have been tested for the virus across the country since the start of the outbreak. Almost 17,000 of these tests were done in the last 24 hours.

Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape continue to be the least hit provinces, according to the statistics.

The North West province has recorded one fatality, followed by Limpopo with three and the Free State with six. ​