By next week Monday, the first batch of vaccines are expected to land on our shores, with frontline healthcare workers the first to be inoculated. It therefore remains to be seen when the general population can start to do the same, with life under adjusted level 3 lockdown likely to extend beyond February as we continue to fight the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa.

Looking at the latest report from the National Department of Health, the number of new daily infections is dropping, but still remains at a relatively high level. This as 7 150 new cases have been reported over the past 24 hours, with the total number of infections to date for the country rising to 1 437 798 as a result.

There have also been 1 272 197 recoveries recorded as well, as the recovery rate climbs slightly to 88.3 percent.

Unfortunately, however, the number of new fatalities remains concerningly high, as 555 new deaths have been recorded over the past 24 hours. As we have seen this week, KwaZulu-Natal is contributing the highest number, with 249 fatalities reported. Consequently, the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa has increased to 43 105.

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 Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash]