South Africa recorded 9 860 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Thursday.

According to a statement by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), as of Thursday, the country recorded 3 504 554 laboratory-confirmed cases. There have been 45 new Covid-19 deaths, bringing the confirmed death toll to 92 112.

The national health department said it recorded 500 Covid-19 deaths to the death toll "due to an ongoing audit exercise conducted by provinces across the country to address a backlog of Covid-19 mortality and new cases".

Health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said of the 551 deaths recorded on Thursday, 45 happened in the last 24-hour cycle.

The NICD said the 9 860 new Covid-19 cases identified in South Africa represented a 21% positivity rate.

As of Thursday, Gauteng recorded 1 143 740 confirmed cases, KwaZulu-Natal 623 852 and the Western Cape 605 902.

The Western Cape recorded the highest number of new cases and accounted for 27% of new infections, followed by Gauteng with 22% and KwaZulu-Natal with 21%. The Eastern Cape accounted for 11% of new cases; the Free State, Mpumalanga, North West and the Northern Cape 4% each; and Limpopo 3%.

The Western Cape recorded 2 632 new cases on Thursday, Gauteng 2 123 and KwaZulu-Natal 2 036.

There were 419 new hospital admissions in the last 24-hour cycle. As of Thursday, 9 603 people were in hospital for Covid-19.

South Africa conducted 21 441 211 cumulative tests, of which 46 948 were carried out in the last 24-hour cycle.

According to the Department of Health, 28 233 512 vaccine doses have been administered, and of those 69 173  were administered on Thursday.

To date, 15 737 760 adults are fully vaccinated. Among children aged 12 and older, 963 184 vaccine doses have been administered.