South Africa's Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize on Wednesday reported a decline in daily new COVID-19 cases but urged citizens to continue observing the laid out health guidelines "to prevent a renewed surge."

The country is Africa's worst affected by the pandemic, having registered 521,318 infections and 8,884.

The figures represent nearly 53 percent of the continent's confirmed cases and almost 42 percent of its fatalities.

Globally, South Africa ranks fifth in number of confirmed COVID-19 infections, only shadowed by the United States, Brazil, India and Russia.

As new cases continue to be reported daily, Mkhize said the country's health sector had managed the situation.

"Our hospitals have been battered but we have not breached our hospital capacity," AP quotes Mkhize. "Our wards are full and our ICU beds are full, but not to complete capacity. And the field hospitals that we constructed still have space."

The health minister's remarks come on the back of a call by the World Health Organization urging people around the world not to let their guard down in order to ensure the gains made in the fight against COVID-19 are not eroded.

"Wear a mask when appropriate, keep your physical distance from others and avoid crowded places, observe coughing etiquette, clean your hands frequently and you'll be protecting yourself and others," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom earlier this week.