Johannesburg, Dec 28 (IANS): South Africa's confirmed coronavirus cases has surpassed the 1 million mark after 9,502 fresh infections increased the total to 1,004,413, a top health official said.

"Today, we have breached the 1 million mark cumulative cases of Covid-19 in South Africa," Xinhua news agency quoted Health Minister Zweli Mkhize as saying in an announcement on Sunday.

He said that besides the new cases, there were 214 new fatalities, which increased the total to death toll to 26,735.

Over 6 million tests both in the public and private sectors have been conducted so far.

Mkhize appealed to citizens to play their role in curbing the spread of the virus.

"We must adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the further spread of the virus," he said.

It took two weeks for South Africa to reach 900,000 from 800,000 cases.

However, it took only nine days to reach the 1 million mark after the country reported 900,000 cases.