A total of 235 new fatalities were reported, compared to 213 on Sunday: Western Cape 64, Eastern Cape 59, Gauteng 51, North West 33, Free State 16, KwaZulu-Natal 10 and Northern Cape 2.

This brings the total number of Covid-19 deaths to 44 399. The number of recoveries now stand at 1 306 022, representing a recovery rate of 89%.

The cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 8 300 749, with 21 549 new tests recorded since the last report.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday night that over the past seven days, the country had seen a steady decline in infections from an average of more than 10 000 to 5 500.

He said there were still concerns over infections, especially with a more infectious variant of the coronavirus spreading throughout the country.

Ramaphosa said hospital admissions were also on the decline. At the peak of the second wave of the pandemic, hospital admissions averaged 2 400 per day and were now 295 per day.

Meanwhile, doctors feel vulnerable to the risk of prosecution if they have to make life-and-death decisions in the face of limited resources during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is according to the Medical Protection Society, which represents 30 000 healthcare professionals in South Africa.

It urged the government on Monday to introduce Covid-19 disaster legislation to protect healthcare professionals from legal challenges relating to clinical resourcing decisions they might have to make.

Dr Graham Howarth, of the Medical Protection Society, said: "We are calling on the government to urgently consider introducing legislation or regulations as part of the disaster management programme in South Africa which would enable healthcare workers to know they are legally protected – with a statutory defence – when making difficult decisions in very challenging circumstances."

The ANC has passed on its condolences to the family of its chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, after the death of his sister, Tozama Mantashe, from Covid-19-related complications. Tozama was an MP serving in the trade and industry portfolio committee.

IOL