More than 2,500 people are in hospital in Gauteng due to Covid-19, the provincial government said on Tuesday.

This comes as the number of cases in Gauteng continues to rise. As of Monday - the latest available figures - there are 66,891 cases, with 19,779 recoveries and 403 deaths.

In total, 35,909 contacts have been traced, of which 22,807 have completed the 14-day monitoring period with no symptoms reported and have therefore been de-isolated.

A total of 2,553 of people are hospitalised in public and private facilities in the province.

Johannesburg is still the epicentre, with 31,979 confirmed cases. Ekurhuleni follows with 14,848 cases. Tshwane has 10,538 infections, Sedibeng 2,748 and the West Rand 4,286.

A total of 2,492 patients are unallocated.

Despite the rapidly growing number of cases, the Gauteng government says it has not asked the national government to allow it to introduce an “intermittent” hard lockdown. Instead, it says it has called for tougher enforcement of the current regulations.

“We are not calling for a return of a hard lockdown. We fully understand and support the current risk-adjusted strategy which is being implemented by the national government and the president,” provincial spokesperson Thabo Masebe told eNCA on Monday morning.