The new coronavirus variant Omicron has now become dominant in South Africa and is driving a sharp increase in new infections, health officials say.
Some 11,500 new Covid infections were registered in the latest daily figures.
That is a sharp rise on the 8,500 cases confirmed the previous day.
By contrast, daily infections were averaging between 200 and 300 in mid-November, a top South African scientist told the BBC.
BBC Reports