Another spell of colder weather is griping the country while we continue to fight the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa and a third wave of infections.
According to the latest numbers from the National Department of Health (NDoH), 9 160 new cases have been recorded over the past 24 hours, pushing the total number of reported infections to date to 1 832 479.
The department also confirms that the recovery rate is currently 90.4 percent, with 1 656 680 recoveries reported so far.
As for the second phase of the Sisonke Protocol vaccine rollout, the process remains slow despite the current phase surpassing the two million mark. More specifically the latest figures say 2 144 204 vaccines have been administered as of 23:59 on 20th June.
Crucially though, it is important to note that 1 664 436 of the vaccines administered to date are the first dose of Pfizer vaccine, requiring a second dose six weeks after the first. As such, the vaccination figures may not be a true reflection of what the population immunity targets are.
While frontline healthcare workers and the elderly have been prioritised until now, next week teachers will also begin receiving vaccinations. Given the continued rise in new daily infections, the Department of Basic Education’s decision to keep schools open to during this time in order to push through with the curriculum is concerning.
Looking at the other key figures in the report, unfortunately 93 new fatalities have been recorded over the past 24 hours. This pushes the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa to 58 795.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
| Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
| Western Cape | 309 023 | 285 079 | 11 880 | 12 064 |
| Eastern Cape | 202 687 | 188 232 | 2 716 | 11 739 |
| Northern Cape | 56 973 | 47 984 | 7 668 | 1 321 |
| Free State | 110 545 | 95 572 | 10 308 | 4 665 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 347 136 | 327 401 | 9 119 | 10 616 |
| North West | 87 103 | 74 676 | 10 219 | 2 208 |
| Mpumalanga | 88 976 | 84 206 | 3 275 | 1 495 |
| Gauteng | 560 202 | 488 844 | 59 188 | 12 170 |
| Limpopo | 69 834 | 64 866 | 2 451 | 2 517 |
| Unknown | 0 | |||
| TOTAL | 1 832 479 | 1 656 860 | 116 824 | 58 795 |
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 Eugene Chystiakov on Unsplash]
