South Africa recorded 1 447 new Covid-19 infections by Wednesday along with 95 new Covid-19-related deaths, taking the confirmed death toll to 50 366.

According to a statement by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, as of Wednesday, the country recorded a total of 1 516 262 confirmed Covid-19 cases.

KwaZulu-Natal recorded the most confirmed active cases with 9 516, followed by the Free State with 6 165 and the Western Cape with 5 842.

The recovery rate is 94.6% and 1 434 772 recoveries have been recorded.

To date, 9 147 524 tests have been completed and 33 498 tests have been conducted by Wednesday, Mkhize said.

Mkhize also reported a further 95 Covid-19-related deaths, of which 30 were recorded in Gauteng, 25 in the Western Cape, 19 in the Free State, eight in KwaZulu-Natal, seven in Mpumalanga, five in the Eastern Cape and one in the Northern Cape.

This brings the total to 50 366 confirmed deaths.

The number of healthcare workers vaccinated under the Sisonke Protocol is 83 570.

"We are very encouraged that our first target of exhausting the first batch of 80 000 vaccine [doses] from Johnson & Johnson in two weeks has been achieved and exceeded. We have taken every opportunity to learn from this process and continue to refine the programme in preparation for rollout to the larger community in the subsequent phases," Mkhize said.