This archive report was first published on 23 May 2020.
On May 22, 2020, South Africa's Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that the country's confirmed Covid-19 cases had surpassed 20,000.
According to Mkhize, the country recorded 988 new cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 20,125.
The death toll related to Covid-19 reached 397, up by 28 from the previous day, Mkhize said in his daily update.
Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries to date stands at 10,104, he added.
The Western Cape province, the epicentre of the outbreak in the country, led all other provinces with 12,888 confirmed cases, followed by Gauteng with 2,521, the Eastern Cape with 2,459, and KwaZulu-Natal with 1,735.
As South Africa prepares to ease the lockdown from level four to level three by the end of May, Mkhize warned that the fight against Covid-19 will become more complicated and difficult during the winter season, when flu is common.
