Cape Town - South Africa recorded 16 366 new Covid-19 cases and 21 Covid-19 related deaths on Saturday, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
“Today the institute reports 16 366 new Covid-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 020 569,” the NICD said in a statement.
The institute said this increase represents a 23.8% positivity rate.
“As per the National Department of Health, a further 21 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89 965 to date.“
According to the institute, a total of 19 715 126 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.
Gauteng remains the epicentre of Covid-19 cases as it accounts for 71% of cases.
The Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal each accounted for 6%. Mpumalanga accounted for 5%. Limpopo and North West each accounted for 4%. Free State and Eastern Cape each accounted for 2% and the Northern Cape accounted for 1% of today’s new cases.
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 23.8%, which is lower than yesterday (24.3%). The 7-day average is 16.8% today, which is higher than yesterday (14.7%).
The 7-day average is 1.1% today, which is lower than yesterdays (1.2%). The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased.
In the past 24 hours, there has been an increase of 110 hospital admissions.
Last week, South African scientists reported the new Covid-19 variant Omicron to the World Health Organisation (WHO). This resulted in a number of travel bans against Southern African countries.
Globally and locally, 371 cases of Omicron have been identified in 24 countries.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said it's quite confident there would soon be a reversal of the travel bans.
Scientists at the WHO have warned over Covid-19 reinfection and other variants as being top of their concern list.
All provinces have been requested to increase the number of vaccination sites, especially in travel hubs, shopping malls and recreational areas, to get as many people as possible vaccinated in the face of the fourth wave.
IOL