As of May 15, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 13 524.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed that the total number of deaths countrywide now stands at 247.

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“We wish to express our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who cared for the deceased,” Mkhize said.

He said the department is encouraged by the rising number of recoveries which now stands at 6 083.

Since the outbreak started, 421 555 tests have been conducted, with 18 537 of those being done in the last 24 hours.

Today 563 news cases were reported in the Western Cape making this province the biggest point of concern.

The province now stands on 7 798 confirmed cases.

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This is a spike of 57.7 per cent.

In the Eastern Cape 93 new cases were reported today bringing the number in this province to 1 662 positive cases.

The recoveries per province:

• Gauteng: 1552
• KwaZulu-Natal: 795
• Eastern Cape: 643
• Free State: 108
• Limpopo: 36
• Mpumalanga: 44
• North West: 28
• Northern Cape: 20
• Western Cape: 2857

Dear reader,

As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.