Gauteng accounted for about half of SA's new Covid-19 infections, as another record high for confirmed cases in a single day was reported on Friday.

The health ministry on Friday said that there were 9,063 new cases of the virus recorded in the past 24 hours — the biggest increase in infections in a single day.

Gauteng accounted for 4,394 of those cases, and now has only about 12,000 fewer cases than the Western Cape, which remains the country's disease epicentre in terms of infections and deaths.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in SA now stands at 177,124.

The ministry also announced that the death toll had increased to 2,952 after 108 Covid-19 related fatalities were recorded in the past 24 hours. Of the new cases, three were in the Northern Cape, eight in the Eastern Cape, 29 in the North West, 10 in KwaZulu-Natal and 58 in the Western Cape.

There have also been 86,298 recoveries recorded, a recovery rate of 48.7%.

This was based on 1,745,153 tests across the country, of which 39,025 were reported in the most recent 24-hour cycle.