Yesterday the country celebrated Human Rights Day, but those celebrations were mostly muted given that we are almost a year under lockdown and are still dealing with COVID-19 in South Africa. With the Easter Weekend on the horizon, it is likely even more lacklustre celebrations are on the way as the country needs to remain vigilant in stopping the spread of COVID-19 and doing what is necessary to avoid a third wave of infections.
While we await to hear what government has planned over the coming weeks, the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) shows that the total number of cases recorded to date now sits at 1 538 451. This as 599 new cases were recorded over the past 24 hours.
The department also confirms that over 9.64 million tests have been conducted to date, with 1 463 953 recoveries being recorded too. This has not changed the recovery rate, however, as it remains at 95 percent.
As for vaccines, the rollout is still moving slowly, with 182 983 vaccines having been administered to date, putting pressure on deadlines to get the second and third phases of the rollout underway.
Exacerbating matters is the recording of 85 new fatalities by the NDoH, with KwaZulu-Natal accounting for the vast majority at 70 deaths. The death toll to date related to COVID-19 in South Africa has since risen to 52 196.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
| Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
| Western Cape | 281 307 | 264 841 | 16 466 | 11 426 |
| Eastern Cape | 194 894 | 183 362 | 11 532 | 11 341 |
| Northern Cape | 35 650 | 32 198 | 2 859 | 794 |
| Free State | 82 241 | 76 941 | 5 300 | 3 564 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 333 021 | 316 676 | 16 345 | 10 128 |
| North West | 62 923 | 59 245 | 3 678 | 1 388 |
| Mpumalanga | 73 903 | 71 578 | 2 325 | 1 334 |
| Gauteng | 411 601 | 399 010 | 12 591 | 10 138 |
| Limpopo | 62 911 | 60 102 | 2 809 | 2 083 |
| Unknown | 0 | |||
| TOTAL | 1 538 451 | 1 463 953 | 74 498 | 52 196 |
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 Kayla Speid on Unsplash]
