This week the country moved out of alert level 4 lockdown, as the numbers regarding COVID-19 in South Africa were deemed low enough that we could look to open up some of the elements that were previously restricted. Looking at the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH), that may have been a premature call as both cases and deaths are on the rise.
To that end, the NDoH says 17 351 new cases have been recorded over the past 24 hours, which is the highest figure we have seen this week so far. This sees the total number of infections for SA to date reach 2 408 525.
As for fatalities, 520 have been reported, which too is the highest figure for this metric we have seen this week at the time of writing. The death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa has climbed to 70 908 as a result.
Looking at the other key figures in the report, the recovery rate has dropped slightly to 90.8 percent given the recent surge in new cases, while the NDoH confirms over 14/69 million tests have been conducted to date.
As for the vaccine rollout, there is still no word on when those aged 18 to 34 can register to receive their jabs despite 1st September being earmarked for that phase to begin. Also, reporting anecdotally, there is radio silence currently in terms of media houses and journalists who were asked to register.
Either way, the rollout needs to ramp up, with 7 065 432 vaccines being administered throughout the country as of 17:00 on 28th July.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
| Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
| Western Cape | 389 674 | 343 262 | 31 611 | 14 801 |
| Eastern Cape | 225 654 | 206 239 | 6 704 | 12 711 |
| Northern Cape | 66 052 | 59 797 | 4 531 | 1 724 |
| Free State | 127 582 | 109 675 | 12 228 | 5 679 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 389 440 | 354 605 | 23 357 | 11 478 |
| North West | 125 972 | 98 837 | 24 254 | 2 881 |
| Mpumalanga | 122 242 | 113 263 | 7 298 | 1 681 |
| Gauteng | 852 202 | 802 812 | 32 711 | 16 679 |
| Limpopo | 109 707 | 98 498 | 7 935 | 3 274 |
| Unknown | 0 | |||
| TOTAL | 2 408 525 | 2 186 988 | 150 629 | 70 908 |
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 Mediamodifier on Unsplash]
