Johannesburg – South Africa still finds itself in the midst of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic as new cases continue to surge in the country.
Today 17,493 new Covid-19 cases have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 1,861,065. This increase represents a 24.9% positivity rate, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service said.
The NICD said it continues to monitor the Covid-19 outbreak in order to inform the public health response.
Dr Michelle Groome, Head of the Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response, warns that “the sharp rise in the reported daily Covid-19 cases is cause for concern, especially in the Gauteng Province where daily case numbers are exceeding those seen during the previous two waves.”
She adds, “Ultimately, it is up to each one of us to play our role to reduce the spread of the virus by limiting our interaction with others, as much as possible, during this time”.
A further 166 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 59 258 to date.
Prof Adrian Puren, Acting Executive Director of the NICD stresses that the anecdotes from family and friends are real, “It is critical to manage our risks and the risk to others, especially the elderly by limiting contact with others and avoiding gatherings with those who are not part of our safe bubble”.
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from the Gauteng province (62%), followed by the Western Cape (10%).
The cumulative number of cases by province is shown below:
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
An increase of 622 hospital admissions have been reported in the past 24 hours.
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