The latest report for COVID-19 in South Africa is highly concerning. This as the National Department of Health (NDoH) confirms that 573 new fatalities have been reported over the past 24 hours, which is the higher than the peak figures we saw last week.

It once again points to the severe impact that the delta variant of the virus has had on the country and, while the number of new cases is dropping compared to the surge during the third wave, deaths as a result of the pandemic are on the rise. Consequently, the death toll has climbed to 75 774.

Looking at the other key figures in the report, 7 502 new cases have been reported over the past 24 hours, pushing the total number of recorded cases for the country to date to 2 554 240. The NDoH also confirms that over 15.36 million tests have been conducted to date, while the recovery rate has risen slightly to 91.5 percent with 2 337 591 recoveries reported by the department.

As for the vaccine rollout, which is becoming increasingly critical due to the number of fatalities of late, 175 095 vaccines have been administered over the past 24 hours.

This is a number that needs to improve significantly if we are to reach population immunity targets before more waves hit. As of 17:00 on 11th August, 9 002 052 vaccines have been administered to date, with an estimated 3 839 569 people inoculated at this stage.

The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:

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:

• 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 Elisaveta Bunduche on Unsplash]