More than 6 000 new Covid-19 infections have been recorded in Gauteng, with a total of 8 561 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 being recorded countrywide on Wednesday.

This compared to the 4 373 cases on Tuesday.

According to a statement by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), as of Wednesday, the country recorded 2 976 613 laboratory-confirmed cases. There have been 28 new Covid-19 deaths, bringing the confirmed death toll to 89 871.

"The NICD… reports that 8 561 new Covid-19 cases have been identified in South Africa, representing a 16.5% positivity rate," the statement read.

The majority of new cases on Wednesday were from Gauteng, which accounted for 72%, followed by the Western Cape with 7%. KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 6%, Mpumalanga and North West 4% each, Limpopo 3%, the Free State 2%, and the Eastern Cape 1%. The Northern Cape accounted for less than 1% of new cases.

Gauteng recorded 6 168 new cases on Wednesday, the Western Cape 626 and KwaZulu-Natal 476.

There were 135 new hospital admissions in the last 24-hour reporting cycle. As of Wednesday, 2 550 people were in hospital for Covid-19.

South Africa conducted 19 529 031 cumulative tests, of which 51 977 were carried out in the last 24-hour cycle.

According to the Department of Health, 25 782 259 vaccine doses have been administered. Of those, 165 775 were administered in the last 24-hour cycle. To date, 14 396 445 adults are fully vaccinated, and 510 255 children received one vaccine dose.