Over the weekend, government extended the national state of disaster once again, this time to 15th February 2022. It is the latest extension as we still try to cope with COVID-19 in South Africa.
While we await to see what the outlook is for the spread of the virus by the middle of next month, right now we are still struggling to shake off the effects of the fourth wave of infections and the omicron variant of COVID-19.
To that end, the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) notes that 4 597 new cases have been recorded over the past 24 hours. The department also adds that there is currently a backlog in reporting, so we could see an inflated number in the coming days.
For now, the total number of cases recorded to date is sitting at 3 559 230. The NDoH adds that 86 fatalities have been reported too, as the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa rises to 93 364.
The department also notes that the recovery rate has risen to 94.7 percent.
As for the vaccine rollout in the past 24 hours, 4 374 jabs have been administered. The low figure is down to it being a Sunday, but seeing as only an estimated 16 502 788 people are fully vaccinated at this stage, including Pfizer booster shots, a higher turnout is needed.
As of 17:00 on 16th January 2022, the total number of vaccines administered is 28 903 010.
The full outlook for COVID-19 in South Africa follows on below:
| Provinces | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
| Western Cape | 619 939 | 579 712 | 19 020 | 21 207 |
| Eastern Cape | 338 321 | 316 353 | 6 232 | 15 736 |
| Northern Cape | 105 725 | 97 312 | 5 918 | 2 495 |
| Free State | 194 208 | 177 752 | 9 145 | 7 311 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 635 820 | 585 802 | 34 439 | 15 579 |
| North West | 182 963 | 172 796 | 5 701 | 4 466 |
| Mpumalanga | 180 880 | 177 007 | 1 832 | 2 041 |
| Gauteng | 1 155 508 | 1 124 925 | 10 233 | 20 350 |
| Limpopo | 145 866 | 139 345 | 2 342 | 4 179 |
| Unknown | 0 | |||
| TOTAL | 3 559 230 | 3 371 004 | 94 862 | 93 364 |
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 Adelin Grigorescu on Unsplash]
