The country recorded 520 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Thursday and 81 deaths, bringing the death toll to 88 835.

According to a statement by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), as of Thursday, the country recorded 2 918 366 laboratory-confirmed cases.

"The NICD… reports that 520 new Covid-19 cases have been identified in South Africa, representing a 1.6% positivity rate," the NICD said.

According to the Department of Health, 21 011 187 vaccine doses have been administered. Of those, 205 253 were administered in the last 24-hour reporting cycle. To date, 11 346 972 people are fully vaccinated.

Gauteng has recorded 918 779 confirmed cases, KwaZulu-Natal 514 951 and the Western Cape 513 064.

"The majority of new cases today (Thursday) are from KwaZulu-Natal (19%), followed by Western Cape (17%). Gauteng province and Northern Cape each accounted for 14%; Free State accounted for 13%; North West accounted for 8%; Eastern Cape accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga accounted for 6%; and Limpopo accounted for 2% of today's new cases," said NICD spokesperson Sinenhlanhla Jimoh.

KwaZulu-Natal recorded 100 new cases on Thursday, the Western Cape 89 and Gauteng 74.

There were 62 new Covid-19 hospital admissions in the last 24-hour cycle. As of Thursday, 4 413 people were in public and private hospitals for Covid-19.

South Africa conducted 18 283 702 cumulative tests, of which 31 913 were carried out in the last 24-hour cycle.