Last week the daily reports for COVID-19 in South Africa featured several surges when it comes to the number of fatalities recorded in the country.

As we begin another week trying to fight the spread of the virus, it remains to be seen how much longer we will still be feeling the effects of the fourth wave of infections.

For now, the numbers remain relatively low, but as we have seen for the past year, figures tend to pick up as the week progresses.

To that end, the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) says that 1 456 new cases have been recorded over the past 24 hours, as the total number of infections recorded to date has climbed to 3 658 547.

The department also notes that 50 fatalities have been reported too, but no mention of additional deaths as a result of an ongoing audit. Consequently, the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa has reached 98 667.

Looking at the other key figures, the NDoH says the recovery rate remains at 96.3 percent, while more than 22.88 million tests have been conducted to date.

As for the vaccine rollout, turnout remains poor with only 6 111 jabs administered in the past 24 hours, but we’ll put this figure down to it being a Sunday. As of 17:00 on 20th February 2022, a total of 30 964 054 vaccines have been administered across 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 Dimitri Karastelev on Unsplash]