“The high number reported today is due to data reconciliation as part of the regular auditing process. This includes the analysis of community data taking into account, among others, postmortem swabs, backlogged data and unconfirmed outcomes at facilities,” said Mkhize.
Of the newly recorded deaths, 263 were in KwaZulu-Natal, 238 in Limpopo, 130 in the Western Cape, 102 in the Eastern Cape, 48 in Gauteng, 25 in the North West, 20 in the Free State, 11 in Mpumalanga and two in the Northern Cape.
Also on Tuesday, Mkhize said 9,780 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours. The new infections came from 46,648 tests, at a positivity rate of 20.96%.
The number of recoveries recorded to date is 1,144,857, at a recovery rate of 84%.
TimesLIVE
SA records 839 new Covid-19 deaths, with health dept saying figure was due to 'data reconciliation'
SA recorded its highest ever daily Covid-19 death total, with the health department saying this was due to “data reconciliation”.
Health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday night 839 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total national death toll to 38,288. The previous high was 806 deaths recorded on January 13.
“The high number reported today is due to data reconciliation as part of the regular auditing process. This includes the analysis of community data taking into account, among others, postmortem swabs, backlogged data and unconfirmed outcomes at facilities,” said Mkhize.
Of the newly recorded deaths, 263 were in KwaZulu-Natal, 238 in Limpopo, 130 in the Western Cape, 102 in the Eastern Cape, 48 in Gauteng, 25 in the North West, 20 in the Free State, 11 in Mpumalanga and two in the Northern Cape.
Also on Tuesday, Mkhize said 9,780 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours. The new infections came from 46,648 tests, at a positivity rate of 20.96%.
The number of recoveries recorded to date is 1,144,857, at a recovery rate of 84%.
TimesLIVE