This week has seen a rise in both the number of newly recorded cases and fatalities for COVID-19 in South Africa.

While it remains to be seen what the cause of the rise is, prior to the Easter weekend, it was posited that the increased number of public holidays could result in a fifth wave of infections, coupled with the change of season too.

For now we have not seen a surge in figures, but the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH) does show a noticeable increase.

To that end, the past 24 hours has seen 4 406 new cases reported, which is far more than we have seen in recent weeks. Consequently the total number of infections recorded to date now sits at 3 750 830.

The department also reports that 65 fatalities have been recorded over the past 24 hours, which too is the most we have seen this week. The death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa has increased to 100 276 as a result.

Other key figures in the report sees the recovery rate drop slightly to 96.8 percent, while more than 24.26 million tests have been conducted to date.

As for the vaccine rollout, the past 24 hours has seen 52 747 jabs administered. As of 17:00 on 21st April 2022, a total of 34 526 599 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 Kyle Austin on Unsplash]