Covid-19: SA records 300 new cases and 12 deaths

Cape Town – South Africa recorded 300 new Covid-19 cases and 12 Covid-19-related deaths in the past 24 hours, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said in a statement today.

This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,921,886. This increase represents a 1.2% positivity rate.

“As per the National Department of Health, a further 12 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,163 to date,“ said NICD senior communications manager Sinenhlanhla Jimoh in the statement.

Jimoh said the majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (19%), followed by Western Cape accounting for 17%.

KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 16%; Free State accounted for 14%; Northern Cape accounted for 12%; Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga each accounted for 7% respectively; North West accounted for 5%; and Limpopo accounted for 3% of today’s new cases.

A total of 18 525 613 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

The total number of cases today (300) is lower than yesterday (475) and higher than the average number of cases per day over the seven preceding days (365).

There has been an increase of 9 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

The NICD urged the public to take preventative measures such as getting vaccinated for Covid-19, wearing your mask properly to cover your nose, and to gather in ventilated spaces if you have to attend an event; otherwise avoid unnecessary gatherings. It also urged the public to keep a social distance of one metre or more and to wash their hands regularly through the day with soap and water.

IOL