40,792 cases of COVID-19 in South Africa
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced that there are now 40,792 recorded cases of COVID-19 in South Africa.
This is an increase of 3,267 cases in the last 24 hours.
The minister said the total number of COVID-19-related deaths in the country is now 848, which is an increase of 56 over the 792 deaths reported on 3 June.
The total number of recoveries to date are 21,311.
A total of 820,675 tests have been processed to date, of which 34,696 tests have been conducted over the last 24 hours.
The Western Cape recorded 54 deaths in the past 24 hours, and the total number of recoveries in the province now stands at 14,917.
The full provincial breakdown is detailed in the table below.
| Province | Case Numbers | Deaths |
|---|---|---|
| Western Cape | 27,006 | 651 |
| Eastern Cape | 4,936 | 95 |
| Gauteng | 4,845 | 33 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 2,896 | 55 |
| Free State | 322 | 9 |
| Limpopo | 206 | 3 |
| North West | 364 | 1 |
| Mpumalanga | 144 | 0 |
| Northern Cape | 95 | 1 |
| Unknown | 5 | 0 |
As of today, the cumulative number of confirmed #COVID19 is 40 792, the total number of deaths is 848 and the recoveries to date are 21 311, which translates to a recovery rate of 52,24%. pic.twitter.com/1jnBtsHC8p
— Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) June 4, 2020
Government to appeal High Court ruling
The South African government has announced that it will appeal the ruling by the Gauteng High Court which declared South Africa’s level 3 and level 4 lockdown regulations irrational and unconstitutional.
The lockdown was implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus in South Africa, and imposes restrictions on personal movement as well as the operations of various businesses around the country.
The government has also announced that it will extend the National State of Disaster until 15 July.
“After obtaining legal advice and listening to numerous comments made by members of the legal fraternity in reaction to this judgement, we are of the view that another court might come to another conclusion on the matter,” Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said in a media briefing on 4 June.
“Cabinet has therefore decided to appeal the North Gauteng High Court decision.”
The government said it will ask that its appeal is heard on an urgent basis so that the country can gain certainty on the regulations.
“The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Dr Nkosozana Dlamini-Zuma will be joined in this appeal by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize,” Mthembu said.
“Cabinet wishes to assure the nation that all interventions introduced since the declaration of a State of National Disaster in March 2020 by President Cyril Ramaphosa have been directed primarily at saving lives.”
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