We are now 18 days away from the one year mark since the first lockdown was announced as a result of COVID-19 in South Africa. As for what happens once we pass this anniversary, for lack of a better word, remains to be seen, but the impending Easter weekend the following week presents a perfect storm for the third wave that government is currently concerned with.
As such, we need to be as vigilant as ever when it comes to stoping the spread of the coronavirus, regardless of how lockdown restrictions will be lowered.
Looking at the latest report from the National Department of Health, new daily infections may seem low, but this is usually the case at the beginning of the week, with numbers ramping up as the week progresses. To that end only 638 new cases have been reported over the past 24 hours, with the total number of infections to date now rising to 1 521 706.
The number of recoveries has increased to 1 442 045, but the recovery rate remains the same as it did yesterday at 94.7 percent. The department also confirms that 107 054 vaccines have been administered, along with more than 9.26 million tests being conducted to date.
Unfortunately, however, 125 new fatalities have also been recorded, as the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa is pushed to 50 803.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
Western Cape | 278 971 | 262 067 | 16 904 | 11 293 |
Eastern Cape | 194 129 | 182 562 | 11 567 | 11 314 |
Northern Cape | 34 379 | 31 605 | 2 859 | 744 |
Free State | 80 680 | 72 496 | 8 184 | 3 393 |
KwaZulu-Natal | 330 678 | 311 749 | 18 929 | 9 748 |
North West | 61 556 | 57 887 | 3 669 | 1 249 |
Mpumalanga | 72 021 | 69 760 | 2 261 | 1 283 |
Gauteng | 406 950 | 394 172 | 12 778 | 9 862 |
Limpopo | 62 342 | 59 747 | 2 595 | 1 917 |
Unknown | 0 | |||
TOTAL | 1 521 706 | 1 442 045 | 79 661 | 50 803 |
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 Frederic Köberl on Unsplash]
[Image – Photo by Akram Huseyn on Unsplash]