Yesterday we saw some of the lowest recorded figures on COVID-19 in South Africa, potentially pointing to the country turning the corner regarding the spread of the virus locally.
Unfortunately though, the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) shows that both newly recorded cases and fatalities are on the rise. This as 453 cases have been recorded over the past 24 hours, with the total number of infections to date climbing to 2 917 255.
As for fatalities, 50 have been reported too as the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa increases to 88 674.
Looking at the other key figures in the report, the recovery rate has risen by a point of a percent to 96.3 percent as the NDoH confirms 2 808 160 recoveries. Added to this is 18.21 million tests being conducted to date.
Shifting to the vaccine rollout, the department says 185 440 vaccines have been administered in the past 24 hours, but better turnouts to vaccine sites will be needed if population immunity goals are to be reached before the year’s end.
As of 17:00 on 19th October, a total of 20 580 832 vaccines have been administered, with an estimated 11 1036 024 people fully vaccinated at this stage.
The full outlook for COVID-19 in South Africa follows on below:
| Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
| Western Cape | 512 854 | 487 956 | 4 835 | 20 063 |
| Eastern Cape | 292 005 | 276 374 | 561 | 15 070 |
| Northern Cape | 92 043 | 87 636 | 2 174 | 2 233 |
| Free State | 162 892 | 152 976 | 3 013 | 6 903 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 514 726 | 493 584 | 6 409 | 14 733 |
| North West | 150 323 | 145 041 | 1 113 | 4 169 |
| Mpumalanga | 151 646 | 149 321 | 331 | 1 994 |
| Gauteng | 918 631 | 898 286 | 868 | 19 477 |
| Limpopo | 122 135 | 116 986 | 1 117 | 4 032 |
| Unknown | 0 | |||
| TOTAL | 2 917 255 | 2 808 160 | 20 421 | 88 674 |
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 Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash]
