As we near the crucial date for the second phase of the Sisonke Protocol vaccine rollout (17th May), each daily report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) is analysed with increasing scrutiny. This as the department has acknowledged a rise in infections over the past week, but a fully fledged resurgence and consequent third wave of infections for COVID-19 in South Africa is yet to be confirmed.
“As much as these figures are worrying, our resurgence dashboard, which was developed by the South African COVID-19 Modelling Consortium, which is updated thrice a week, still shows that we have not, as the country reached a resurgence threshold though some districts in the country are fast approaching the threshold,” explained the NDoH in a statement over the rise in infections in certain regions of the country this week.
Looking at the latest report from the NDoH, 3 221 new cases have been reported over the past 24 hours, resulting in the total number of infections recorded to date rising to 1 605 252. The department also confirms that over 11 million tests have been conducted to date, with the recovery rate dropping slightly to 94.7 percent. The number of recoveries now sit at 1 520 878.
As for the vaccine rollout, which is still prioritising healthcare workers despite recent reports on social media, the department says that 455 169 vaccines have been administered locally to date.
Unfortunately 44 new fatalities have also been recorded, pushing the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa to 55 012.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
Western Cape | 289 013 | 275 600 | 1 996 | 11 690 |
Eastern Cape | 196 450 | 184 504 | 210 | 11 614 |
Northern Cape | 43 187 | 37 401 | 3 554 | 960 |
Free State | 93 390 | 84 593 | 2 398 | 3 969 |
KwaZulu-Natal | 337 728 | 321 776 | 5 041 | 10 441 |
North West | 70 043 | 64 398 | 2 881 | 1 758 |
Mpumalanga | 79 519 | 76 995 | 991 | 1 413 |
Gauteng | 431 598 | 414 055 | 3 231 | 10 831 |
Limpopo | 64 324 | 61 556 | 295 | 2 336 |
Unknown | 0 | |||
TOTAL | 1 605 252 | 1 520 878 | 20 597 | 55 012 |
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