In the lead up to the Easter weekend, it was posited that the flurry of holidays in April could potentially trigger a fifth wave of infections for COVID-19 in South Africa.

With the Easter weekend now behind us, it remains to be seen whether there will indeed be a surge in cases, as well as how well the country can cope with its impact. While there has not been a serious rise in daily figures yet, the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) does show a slight uptick.

To that end, the past 24 hours has seen 2 846 new cases being recorded by the NDoH, as the total number of infections to date has risen to 3 746 424.

The department also notes that 16 fatalities have been reported over the past 24 hours too, as the death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa now sits at 100 211.

As for other key figures, the latest report notes that the recovery rate still remains unmoved this week at 96.9 percent, while more than 24.23 million tests have been conducted to date.

Shifting to the vaccine rollout, turnout has been picking up as the week progresses, with 52 020 jabs administered in the past 24 hours. As of 17:00 on 20th April 2022, a total of 34 469 342 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 De an Sun on Unsplash]