The number of recoveries currently stood at 472,377, Xinhua news agency quoted Mkhize as saying in his daily update.

 

Currently, South Africa's overall caseload stood at 587,345.

 

Of the total tally, 3,692 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, Mkhize said.

 

"Regrettably we report a further 162 COVID-19 related deaths -- 70 from Eastern Cape, 27 from Gauteng, 21 from KwaZulu-Natal, six from Free State, 18 from North West and 20 from Western Cape. This brings the total COVID-19 related cumulative deaths to 11,839," said Mkhize.

 

The total number of tests conducted to date was 3,400,638, with 22,609 new tests conducted since the last report on Saturday, said Mkhize.

 

South Africa has seen a decline in the number of cases in recent days.

 

Over the last three weeks, the number of new confirmed cases has dropped from a peak of over 12,000 a day to an average of around 5,000 a day over the past week.

 

The number of patients hospitalized has decreased from 10,000 at the beginning of the month to around 4,000, significantly reducing the pressure on the health facilities, official figures showed.

 

According to the country's risk-adjusted strategy announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday, South Africa will further ease the lockdown restrictions from level three to level two, beginning from midnight on Monday.

 

Level two allows the country to remove nearly all of the restrictions on the resumption of economic activity across most industries.

 

Under level two, all restrictions on inter-provincial travel and the ban on sales of tobacco and alcohol will be lifted, with the re-opening of restaurants and bars.