JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa reported another 297 positive cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, another big jump after cases climbed by their most in single day on Wednesday, bringing the total in the country to 5,647, the health department said in a statement.
“The total number of tests conducted to date is 207,530 of which 10,403 were done in the last 24 hours,” said the Ministry of Health. Deaths still totalled 103.
Wednesday’s increase of 354 in infections was the highest in a 24-hour cycle.
South Africa’s five-week strict national lockdown ends on Friday, but with only a clutch of industries being allowed to operate in a bid to keep the economy going while keeping the spread of the virus at bay.
The Treasury said on Thursday it saw South Africa’s economy contracting by 5.8% in 2020, with job losses projected between 3 million and 7 million due to productivity lost to the coronavirus.
(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
