Johannesburg – As the world and the country celebrated the tick of the clock past midnight into a new day and a new year, the Covid-19 pandemic that ravaged 2020 continued into the new year as South Africa reported 16 726 new cases in the past 24 hours.
The cumulative amount of cases in the country now stands at 1 073 887.
The department of health further said, “Regrettably, today we report a further 418 COVID-19 related deaths.”
The department said that the number of total deaths is now 28 887.
As of today the number of #COVID19 cases in SA is 1 073 887 with 16 726 new cases identified with a positivity rate of 33.4%. Thetotal of tests done to date is 6 659 318 with 50 110 tests conducted in the past 24 hours. Regrettably, 418 Bringing the total deaths to 28 887. pic.twitter.com/7ajLqoJpAk
— Department of Health (@HealthZA) January 1, 2021
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced earlier this week on Monday that the country will be placed under an adjusted level 3 lockdown with immediate effect.
Along with the harsh measures, he also closed all beaches, public swimming pools, rivers, dams and ponds for swimming.
This comes after the country has reached alarming levels as it battles against the second wave of Covid-19. Just yesterday, SA recorded a whopping 17 710 new cases. The death toll in the country is also rising every day.
01 January 2021 #COVID19 statistics in South Africa #CoronaVirusSA pic.twitter.com/MF3VELLIAt
— Department of Health (@HealthZA) January 1, 2021
Leading experts in South Africa’s vaccine procurement strategy say while securing a COVID-19 vaccine is top of the country’s agenda, it is not a magic bullet that will end the pandemic.
“There is a general misunderstanding and we need to clarify that once the vaccines arrive on our doorstep, that is not the end of the epidemic.
“The first branches will go to protect healthcare workers and will have no effect on the population as such.
“Then there will be immunisation of the population and that is going to take a long time,” said Professor Barry Schoub, who is the Ministerial Advisory Committee chairperson on vaccine development.
Schoub, together with the Health Department Deputy Director General, Dr Anban Pillay, and South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) extramural unit researcher, Safura Abdool Karim, engaged in a panel discussion broadcast by the SABC on the COVID-19 vaccine outlook in 2021.
The panel discussion on vaccine procurement comes as South Africa recorded its highest daily infections, with 17 710 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the country’s cumulative total to 1 039 161.
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