This week the country was somewhat buoyed by the fact that the first batch of vaccine had arrived on our shores, along with level 3 restrictions easing and continued decrease in the number of new daily infections for COVID-19 in South Africa.
Looking at the latest figures from the National Department of Health (NDoH), we are far from out of the woods yet, but some of the statistics are promising given the chaos that the second wave wrought during the festive period. To that end, 2 649 new cases have been reported over the past 24 hours, with the total to date now sitting at 1 458 958.
The number of recoveries is now 1 318 504, translating to a recovery rate of 90 percent, which it has not been for quite some time.
While those are all positives, the number of new daily fatalities is still cause for serious concern. This as 547 new fatalities were recorded, with KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo accounting for the most at 143 and 143 respectively. It should be noted, however, that Limpopo’s figures increased as a result of a retrospective audit in which new deaths were added.
Regardless, any fatalities are regrettable, and now the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 in South Africa has been pushed to 44 946.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
Western Cape | 270 073 | 245 360 | 24 713 | 10 380 |
Eastern Cape | 192 182 | 178 949 | 13 233 | 10 781 |
Northern Cape | 32 072 | 27 699 | 2 859 | 586 |
Free State | 76 613 | 64 877 | 11 736 | 2 762 |
KwaZulu-Natal | 316 780 | 264 678 | 52 102 | 8 731 |
North West | 57 408 | 48 960 | 8 448 | 966 |
Mpumalanga | 65 649 | 61 224 | 4 425 | 997 |
Gauteng | 389 841 | 372 887 | 16 954 | 8 340 |
Limpopo | 58 340 | 53 870 | 4 470 | 1 403 |
Unknown | 0 | |||
TOTAL | 1 458 958 | 1 318 504 | 140 454 | 44 946 |
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 Hakan Nural on Unsplash]