In recent weeks we’ve seen a familiar pattern with regard to the new daily infections for COVID-19 in South Africa. They usually start below the 1k mark before ramping up as the week progresses. This week, however, is different as the number of new infections is higher than normal.

To that end, the past 24 hours has seen 1 729 new cases being reported by the National Department of Health (NDoH). The previous 24 hours saw 1 247 cases being reported, but it is still far too early for the NDoH to be making any calls.

While we wait to see if any trends emerge, the total number of infections for the country to date now sits at 740 254, with 683 194 recoveries and over 5 million tests being conducted.

The recovery rate still remains steady at 92 percent as a result.

Unfortunately though, 106 new fatalities have been reported, pushing the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in South Africa to 19 951.

Of the new 106, the NDoH confirms that 12 are from KwaZulu-Natal, 24 from the Eastern Cape, 15 from the Free State, 33 from North West, seven from Gauteng, and 15 from the Western Cape.

The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:

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 CDC on Unsplash]