South Africa had a backlog of more than 96,000 Covid-19 test samples at the beginning of this week, leading to a delay in the results of tests. Most of these tests are in Gauteng.
Dr. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize revealed in his latest statement that 96 480 samples to be tested for the new coronavirus had not yet been processed in a laboratory by Monday. The backlog in test results also seems to increase with the week.
The Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape are currently awaiting test results in arrears. According to Mkhize, the rest of the provinces have no backlog. According to government data, Gauteng has the most unprocessed tests, with a figure of 24 076, followed by KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, each with 22 802.
The minister said, in light of delayed test results, that the test samples of health workers and patients already admitted to hospital are now being prioritized.
A total of 27,403 Covid-19 cases have already been reported in South Africa with 577 Covid-19-related deaths. A total of 20 727 tests have been performed in the past 24 hours, which means that a total of 655 723 tests have already been done.
