This week rumblings have begun to grow regarding a potential move to level 2 lockdown, as the number of newly recorded cases related to COVID-19 in South Africa appear to be on the decline.

While that would indeed be welcome news, the fact that fatalities related to the virus being so high, is also a reason for concern.

The latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) confirms that 5 372 new cases have been reported in the past 24 hours, which is on the lower side of what we have seen in recent weeks. The total number of cases recorded to date now sits at 2 829 435, while the recovery rate has increased to 92.3 percent.

As for fatalities though, they are up from yesterday, with 282 being recorded, showing that the impact of the delta variant of the virus os far from behind us. Consequently, the death toll has risen to 83 899.

Looking at the vaccine rollout, which is becoming the most important figure with each passing day, the past 24 hours has seen 202 637 jabs administered, which indicates a slowing in pace compared to a week ago.

As of 17:00 on 7th September, 13 892 301 vaccines have been administered in total, with an estimated 6 751 662 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 Mufid Majnun on Unsplash]