Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a devastating impact globally, with severe health and economic consequences including increased disperaties in health inequalities. This has the potential to frustrate governments efforts towards universal health coverage. To prepare health systems to deal with the pandemic, epidemiological and cost projection models are required to inform budgets and efficient allocation of resources. This study therefore, estimates daily inpatient care costs of COVID-19 in South Africa, an important input into cost projection and economic evaluation models and an important piece of information for data for decision making.