South Africa’s total number of coronavirus cases has surpassed that of the UK with the crisis-hit country now suffering one of the highest infection rates in the global pandemic.
The country reported 10,000 fresh cases yesterday, taking its total to more than 298,000 – the eighth highest in the world and nearly half of all confirmed infections on the African continent. The UK has a total of over 291,000 cases and is adding about 600 a day.
Figures today showed nearly 200 people per million are being confirmed with Covid-19 in South Africa, a higher rate than other global epicentres such as the US, Brazil and India. 
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President Cyril Ramaphosa this week said the country is now “confronted by the gravest crisis in the history of our democracy” as he reimposed tough lockdown measures, once again banning the sale of alcohol and cigarettes and bringing in a night curfew. “The storm is upon us,” he warned on Monday.
Dr John Black, an infectious diseases expert in Port Elizabeth, warned about under-resourced hospitals. “Services are starting to crumble under the strain. Covid has opened up all the chronic cracks in the system,” he said.
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