While most South Africans woke up to the news of Eskom implementing stage 2 loadshedding this morning, and the host of issues it poses, there is also the coronavirus to contend with. Recent statistics from the National Department of Health (NDoH), however, suggests that the number of new daily infections is indeed decreasing.
This as the NDoH has reported that 2 810 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded over the past 24 hours. This continues this week’s trend of lower numbers, but again it may still be too early to say whether the curve is flattening.
That said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize is trying to remain optimistic, with the steadily improving recovery rate being highlighted. To that end the number of people who have recuperated stands at 432 029, according to the NDoH, which translates to a recovery rate of 75.9 percent.
While that is indeed promising, the number of fatalities related to COVID-19 in South Africa is still rising. At this stage it sits at 11 010 deaths to date, with 259 being recorded over the past 24 hours.
Of the new deaths, 108 are from Gauteng, 74 from KwaZulu-Natal, 46 from the Eastern Cape and 31 from the Western Cape.
As for the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in the country, it now sits at 568 919.
Looking at the split of infections per province, the NDoH confirms that Gauteng remains the hardest-hit province with 194 685 cases, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 101 499, Western Cape 100 536 and Eastern Cape 82 779.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
Province | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
Western Cape | 100 536 | 88 735 | 11 801 | 3 485 |
Eastern Cape | 82 779 | 78 210 | 4 569 | 2 332 |
Northern Cape | 6 957 | 3 698 | 2 859 | 68 |
Free State | 29 578 | 14 522 | 15 056 | 414 |
KwaZulu-Natal | 101 499 | 56 758 | 44 741 | 1 524 |
North West | 22 205 | 12 486 | 9 719 | 150 |
Mpumalanga | 19 755 | 16 658 | 3 097 | 149 |
Gauteng | 194 685 | 152 061 | 42 624 | 2 761 |
Limpopo | 10 875 | 8 901 | 1 974 | 127 |
Unknown | 50 | |||
TOTAL | 568 919 | 432 029 | 136 890 | 11 010 |
As always, in order to stay up to date with the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa and abroad, we advise the following materials and platforms:
- Dr Zweli Mkhize on Twitter
- COVID-19 Connect on WhatsApp – add 0600 123 456 as a contact and say “Hi”.
- World Health Organisation
- SA Coronavirus website
- SA Government
- SA Presidency
[Image – Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash]