South Africa reports record daily surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases

South Africa has reported 10,853 confirmed COVID-19 cases within 24 hours, the highest single-day surge since the outbreak began, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said early Sunday.

With the new infections, the total number of confirmed cases has jumped to 187,977. Meanwhile, 74 deaths were reported in the 24-hour period,bringing the total number of deaths connected to the virus up to 3,026, Mkhize added.

The number of recoveries in South Africa stood at 91,227, which translated to a 48.5-percent recovery rate. The Western Cape province still has the most confirmed cases and deaths, at 68,376 and 2,026 respectively.

Mass community testing has gained momentum with 46,925 tests conducted in the 24-hour period, according to Mkhize, pushing the total number of tests carried out to 1,792,078.

The latest figures were released as the country marked 100 days of a COVID-19 lockdown designed to curb the virus spread.

South Africa enforced the lockdown on March 27, three weeks after the first case was detected, a move that has successfully delayed the "peak" of the pandemic, allowing authorities to prepare the health system for the worst scenario.

A health department official walks past beds set up in a temporary field hospital to deal with an expected surge in cases of COVID-19 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa May 26, 2020. /Reuters

The country has witnessed sharp rises in both confirmed cases and related deaths since the relaxation of lockdown restrictions on May 1 however, prompting calls to reimpose strict lockdown measures in areas hit hard by the pandemic.

On Friday, Gauteng Premier David Makhura said he was considering enforcing a harder lockdown as the pandemic escalated in the province.

As of Friday, Gauteng province had recorded 54,331 infections in total, second only to the country's epicenter, the Western Cape, which had 66,936 cases.

There have been concerns that if cases continued to rise as rapidly, Gauteng would soon overtake the Western Cape to become the country's epicenter.

Some hospitals are complaining that their bed capacity has been stretched by people suffering from trauma cases related to alcohol abuse.

The country lifted a ban on the sale of alcohol on June 1 while further easing lockdown restrictions.

(CGTN)