We are now in the penultimate week of August, with the coming days and weeks proving critical in terms of the fight against COVID-19 in South Africa. Vaccinations are open to everyone over the age of 18 in the country and now efforts in inoculating as many citizens as possible is underway.
While there is still plenty of work to be done in that regard, caution and adherence to regulations still need to be followed by those who have received and those who are yet to receive their vaccinations.
Looking at the latest report on COVID-19 in South Africa from the National Department of Health (NDoH), the number of new infections and fatalities still remain high.
To that end 7 632 new cases have been reported in the past 24 hours, pushing the total number of infections recorded to date to 2 698 605. The department also confirms that over 16.04 million tests have been conducted to date, with the recovery rate now 91 percent as 2 455 998 recoveries have been recorded.
As for fatalities, 163 have been reported in the past 24 hours, as the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa rises to 79 584.
Shifting back to the vaccine rollout, 247 293 vaccines have been administered in the past 24 hours, which shows positive signs for the 18 to 24 age group in the country. As of 17:00 on 23rd August, 10 790 501 vaccines have been administered in total, while an estimated 4 983 911 people are inoculated.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
| Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
| Western Cape | 468 097 | 414 743 | 35 818 | 17 536 |
| Eastern Cape | 256 221 | 228 788 | 14 005 | 13 428 |
| Northern Cape | 77 118 | 68 437 | 6 761 | 1 920 |
| Free State | 142 588 | 121 546 | 14 892 | 6 150 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 456 693 | 386 927 | 56 693 | 13 073 |
| North West | 140 206 | 121 069 | 15 666 | 3 471 |
| Mpumalanga | 140 630 | 133 587 | 5 221 | 1 822 |
| Gauteng | 898 668 | 869 306 | 10 936 | 18 426 |
| Limpopo | 118 384 | 111 595 | 3 031 | 3 758 |
| Unknown | 0 | |||
| TOTAL | 2 698 605 | 2 455 998 | 163 023 | 79 584 |
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 Mika Baumeister on Unsplash]
