• A three-month-old and a four-year-old are among the latest to die of Covid-19 in KZN.
• For a second day running, KZN has overtaken Gauteng in terms of new cases.
• While the department reported 93 new deaths, it said this was due to late reporting.

A three-month-old baby girl and a four-year-old boy are among the latest Covid-19 deaths to be reported out of KwaZulu-Natal, the provincial health department said on Tuesday.

"The province recorded two more paediatric deaths," the department said.

No further details were available on the deaths of the two children or the surrounding circumstances.

While KZN accounted for 93 new Covid-19 related deaths, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic, the department stated this was because of delayed reporting.

"These deaths did not happen in the past 24 hours. Due to late reporting and a high number of patients dying as persons under investigation (PUIs), there is a delay in reporting deaths."

The province recorded 2 058 new cases on Monday alone, accounting for the bulk of new national cases.

Highest

"The province had the highest number of new cases countrywide (36%) followed by Gauteng Province (26%)," the health department statement said.

It added that KZN was now ranking the third highest countrywide, with 4 578 more cases than the Eastern Cape.

"Although the province is ranking the third highest, the number of new cases received daily continues to be below 3 000 as compared to the past week."

KZN thus far contributes 11% or 979 of the Covid-19 related deaths countrywide.

The province continues to be the fourth highest in terms of deaths.

News24 on Monday reported that KZN's Covid-19 numbers overtook new cases from Gauteng on Sunday, recording a higher share of new infections for the day.

The health department said that, on 2 August, KZN recorded 2 693 new cases.

The province had the highest number of new cases countrywide (33%) followed by Gauteng Province (29%).