Over the past couple of weeks we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of new cases for COVID-19 in South Africa resulting in the largest spike since mid-August yesterday. This seemingly prompted government to take action, and last night President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation regarding the situation.
The result now sees the Nelson Mandela Bay region come under alert level 2-esque restrictions, with a stricter curfew now in place, as well as revised regulations on gatherings and alcohol sale, among other things.
The same fate could also befall Sarah Baartman and the Garden Route, with both areas identified as COVID-19 hotspots alongside Nelson Mandela Bay.
While we wait to see what happens in those regions, the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) sees 4 400 new cases being reported over the past 24 hours. This has resulted in the total number of infections for SA to date to climb to 800 872, with 739 367 recoveries also being reported.
Unfortunately, 94 new fatalities have been recorded too, pushing the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in South Africa to 41 803. Of the new 94, the Eastern and Western Cape account for 42 and 28 fatalities respectively, adding credence to the department’s concerns for those provinces.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa, sans updated recoveries and active cases, is as follows:
Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
Western Cape | 135 645 | 118 246 | 17 399 | 4 729 |
Eastern Cape | 132 149 | 119 211 | 12 938 | 4 720 |
Northern Cape | 23 308 | 20 756 | 2 859 | 313 |
Free State | 59 173 | 51 575 | 7 598 | 1 957 |
KwaZulu-Natal | 129 276 | 118 509 | 10 767 | 3 372 |
North West | 34 955 | 33 717 | 1 238 | 566 |
Mpumalanga | 31 556 | 30 521 | 1 035 | 614 |
Gauteng | 236 086 | 229 041 | 7 045 | 5 026 |
Limpopo | 18 724 | 17 791 | 933 | 506 |
Unknown | 0 | |||
TOTAL | 800 872 | 739 367 | 61 505 | 21 803 |
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 Glen Carrie on Unsplash]