It is the beginning of a new month in 2022, and now with the perpetually long January behind us, attention turns to how we will cope with COVID-19 in South Africa during February.

As we saw since the beginning of the year, the country continues to struggle to shake off the effects of the fourth wave of infections and Omicron variant of the virus.

To that end, while numbers have not surged, we are still seeing daily infections pick up to around the 4k mark as the week progresses, with the same rise occurring for fatalities.

Looking at the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH), the past 24 hours has seen 1 366 new cases reported, with the total number of infections to date now sitting at 3 605 222.

The department also notes that 71 fatalities have been reported, with 14 of these added over the past 24 to 48 hours as a result of the NDoH’s ongoing audit process. As a result, the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa has reached 95 093.

As for other statistics shared in the report, the recovery rate has risen again to 95.9 percent with 3 456 461 recoveries recorded, along with more than 22.26 million tests having been conducted so far.

Shifting to the vaccine rollout, the past 24 hours has seen 67 917 jabs administered, with turnout continuing to be lower than needed. As of 17:00 on 31st January 2022, a total of 29 884 699 vaccines have been administered in SA.

The full outlook for COVID-19 in South Africa follows on below:

• 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 Glen Carrie on Unsplash]