Today people across the country would be celebrating Freedom Day if it was a normal year, but the past 12 months have been anything but normal, as we continue to fight the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa.
With the rollout of vaccines expected later this week, followed by the second phase of the Sisonke Protocol in May, things are looking slightly more positive, but the majority of the population needs to remain vigilant as we wait for a wider rollout to happen.
As for the latest numbers regarding COVID-19 in South Africa, a report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) chronicling the past 24 hours shows that 849 new cases have been recorded. This has pushed up the total number of cases reported to date to 1 576 320.
The department also confirms that over 10.54 million tests have been conducted to date and the recovery rate remains at 95 percent with 1 501 880 recoveries reported so far.
As for the other key metrics in the daily report, unfortunately 38 new fatalities have been recorded over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa to 54 186.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
| Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
| Western Cape | 286 155 | 272 540 | 1 996 | 11 602 |
| Eastern Cape | 195 981 | 184 265 | 210 | 11 522 |
| Northern Cape | 39 393 | 35 195 | 3 554 | 884 |
| Free State | 87 824 | 80 993 | 2 398 | 3 836 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 336 322 | 320 835 | 5 041 | 10 370 |
| North West | 66 962 | 62 517 | 2 881 | 1 706 |
| Mpumalanga | 77 736 | 75 571 | 991 | 1 393 |
| Gauteng | 422 147 | 408 723 | 3 231 | 10 607 |
| Limpopo | 63 800 | 61 241 | 295 | 2 266 |
| Unknown | 0 | |||
| TOTAL | 1 576 320 | 1 501 880 | 20 597 | 54 186 |
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 Shaun Meintjes on Unsplash]
