We are now less than two weeks away from the two year anniversary of lockdown first being imposed in the country as a reaction to COVID-19 in South Africa.

It is of course a less than pleasing anniversary as calls to drop restrictions further were met with an extension of the national state of disaster.

As such, it will likely ramp up tensions the closer we get to 26th March 2022.

In the interim, however, we still need to concern ourselves with the spread of the virus. To that end, the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) confirms that 1 648 new cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours. This sees the total number of infections recorded to date climb to 3 696 823.

The department also notes that two fatalities have been reported as well, but it remains to be seen if this metric will rise as the week progresses. Consequently, the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa now sits at 99 727.

As for the vaccine rollout, the past 24 hours has seen 83 194 jabs administered, as turnout to sites across the country is still not at the desired level if we are to reach population immunity before a predicted fifth wave hits next month.

As of 17:00 on 15th March 2022, a total of 32 722 417 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 Solen Feyissa on Unsplash]