Category: COVID-19 Corona Virus

South Africa has recorded 2 334 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 662 032.

In a statement on Tuesday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said the increase represents a 7.3% positivity rate.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (39%), followed by Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Western Cape, each accounting for 15%.

The North West accounted for 8%; Mpumalanga 7%; the Eastern Cape and Free State each accounted for 5%. Limpopo accounted for 3% and the Northern Cape accounted for 2% of the new cases.

“The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 7.3%, which is lower than yesterday (7.4%). The 7-day average is 8.0% today, which is lower than yesterday (8.1%),” the NICD said on Tuesday.

Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), the NICD said there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported.

“Today, the NDoH reports 64 deaths and of these, one occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 98 868 to date,” the NICD said.

There has been an increase of 73 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

A total of 22 928 257 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

South Africa has reported 2 364 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 645 269.

This increase represents a 7.7% positivity rate.

There has been an increase of 110 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

The Department of Health has reported 181 deaths and of these, seven occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 97 431 to date.

In total, 22 723 984 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

In the private sector, 12 322 333 tests were conducted, while 10 401 651 tests were conducted in the public sector.

According to the Department of Health, the majority of new cases are from Gauteng (42%), followed by Western Cape (16%).

KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 14%, Mpumalanga accounted for 9%, Free State and North West each accounted for 5% respectively. Limpopo accounted for 4%, Eastern Cape accounted for 3% and the Northern Cape accounted for 2% of the new cases.

The cumulative number of cases by province is as follows:

Gauteng 983, Western Cape 374, Eastern Cape 101, North West 123, Limpopo 106, Mpumalanga 177, Free State 131, Northern Cape 43 and KwaZulu-Natal 326.

South Africa’s COVID-19 caseload has risen by 2 824 in the past 24 hours, with a positivity rate of 8.2%, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Tuesday.

This means the country now has a total number of 3 628 014 laboratory-confirmed cases since the outbreak.

Gauteng continues to account for the highest number of daily infections after 997 people have been confirmed to have contracted the virus.

The province is followed by 462 cases in KwaZulu-Natal, 425 in the Western Cape and 216 in Limpopo, while the rest of the provinces reported less than 100 cases.

In addition, there are 268 latest fatalities due to COVID-19, of which 20 were logged in the past 24 to 48 hours, pushing the official death toll to 96 289.

Meanwhile, data shows that the hospital admissions have increased by 101 to 4 502 since the last reporting cycle.

The Department of Health administered 65 499 COVID-19 vaccine doses, bringing the total to 30 325 638 to date.

According to the department, the country now has 16 637 053 fully jabbed adults, while 1 322 615 doses have been given to children from 12 to 17 years old.

The statistics also show that the country has now distributed 704 148 booster shots.

Globally, as of 8 February 2022, there have been 396 558 014 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5 745 032 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO)

Global view

According to the WHO, during the week of 31 January to 6 February 2022, the number of new COVID-19 cases decreased by 17% compared to the previous week.

On the other hand, deaths increased by 7%.

“Across the six WHO regions, over 19 million new cases and just under 68 000 new deaths were reported,” the agency’s weekly epidemiological update stated.

At the regional level, the WHO said the Eastern Mediterranean region reported a peak of 36% in the number of new weekly cases while all other regions reported decreases.

In addition, the number of new weekly deaths continued to increase in the South-East Asia (67%) and Eastern Mediterranean (45%), while the number remained similar to that of the previous week in the region of the Americas and Europe and decreased in the African (14%) and Western Pacific regions (5%).

The highest number of new cases were reported from the United States (1 874 006 new cases, 50% decrease), France (1 738 189 new cases, 26% decrease), Germany (1 285 375 new cases, 22% increase), Brazil (1 241 025 new cases, similar to the previous week’s figures) and India (1 095 616 new cases, a 41% decrease).

The highest number of new deaths were reported from the United States (14 090 new deaths, 15% decrease), India (7 888 new deaths, 69% increase), Russia (4 686 new deaths, similar to the previous week’s figures), Brazil (4 610 new deaths, 39% increase) and Mexico (2 910 new deaths, 48% increase).

“The current global epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 is characterised by the continued rapid global spread of the Omicron variant,” the WHO said.

In addition, all other variants, including variants of concern t including Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta and variants of interest, Lambda and Mu continue to decline in all six WHO regions.

South Africa recorded 1 752 new COVID-19 cases and a further 18 deaths, of which eight occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours.

In total, 3 623 962 people in South Africa have contracted the virus and 95 835 patients lost their lives after testing positive.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), Gauteng continues to record the highest number of new infections after 604 residents tested positive on Sunday.

The province is followed by 291 cases in KwaZulu-Natal, 263 in the Western Cape, while the rest of the provinces registered less than 100 infections each.

In addition, the hospital admission went up by 20 to 4 696 in the past 24 hours out of the 47 878 active cases.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health said of the 4 286 patients over 12 who are currently in hospital, 3 086 are unvaccinated, 1 025 are fully jabbed and 175 are partially vaxxed.

The department’s latest figures show that government has administered 3 831 COVID-19 vaccine doses, bringing the total to 30 189 745 since the start of the rollout programme.

The country is now home to 16 589 304 or 41.64% fully jabbed adults, while 1 296 719 doses have been given to adolescents aged between 12 and 17.

Globally, as of 4 February 2022, there have been 386 548 962 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5 705 754 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation.

South Africa has recorded 2 226 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 603 856.

The increase represents a 9.5% positivity rate.

The Department of Health has reported 117 deaths and of these, 15 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 95 022 to date.

The department says there has been an increase of 23 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, says it continues to provide laboratory-based surveillance to inform the public health response towards COVID-19 in South Africa.

With regard to the tests conducted, 22 251 589 tests were conducted in both public and private sectors.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (34%), followed by the Western Cape (16%).

KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga each accounted for 13% respectively, Limpopo and North West each accounted for 7%, respectively, Free State accounted for 6%, Eastern Cape accounted for 4%, and Northern Cape accounted for 3% of the new cases.

Number of cases by province: Gauteng 756, Free State 128, KwaZulu-Natal 256, Mpumalanga 276, Eastern Cape 99, Northern Cape 56, Limpopo 157, Western Cape 351 and North West 147.

South Africa reported 4 514 new COVID-19 cases and 94 deaths, of which 20 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours, said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Wednesday.

The number of deaths brings the total to 94 491, according to the government official figures.

Meanwhile, data show that Gauteng remains the hardest-hit province after logging 1 376 additional infections, followed by 645 in the Western Cape, 567 in KwaZulu-Natal, 490 in Mpumalanga and 472 in Limpopo.

The latest infections pushe the laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 590 399 since the pandemic hit as the country’s positivity rate currently stands at 10.6%.

In addition, hospital admissions have increased by 183 to 6 035 in the past 24 hours.

According to the Department of Health, the country administered 81 012 COVID-19 vaccine doses, bringing the total to 29 626 329.

South Africa now has 16 374 573 fully jabbed adults, while 1 181 536 shots have been given to children between the ages of 12 and 17.

Globally, as of 26 January 2022, there have been 356 955 803 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 5 610 291 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation.

South Africa conducted 36 216 Coronavirus tests in the last 24 hours, of which 3 197 came back positive, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the country logged 132 deaths, with 23 occurring in the past 24 to 48 hours.

According to the NICD, Gauteng continues to record the highest number of daily infections after 898 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus.

Gauteng is followed by 483 infections in KwaZulu-Natal and 460 in the Western Cape, pushing the positivity rate to 8.8%.

This means the country now has 3 585 888 laboratory-confirmed cases since the outbreak, while the death toll is sitting at 94 397 to date.

Data shows that hospital admissions increased by 179 to 6 284 since the last reporting cycle out of the 73 368 active cases.

In addition, the cumulative number of recoveries now stands at 3 418 123 with a recovery rate of 95.3%.

The Department of Health distributed 82 572 COVID-19 vaccine doses on Tuesday, bringing the total to 29 540 132 since the start of the vaccination rollout programme.

Meanwhile, the country is now home to 16 338 574 or 41.05% fully jabbed adults, while 517 539 booster shots have been administered.

Global view

Globally, as of 25 January 2022, there have been 352 796 704 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 5 600 434 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The number of new COVID-19 cases across the world increased by 5% between 17 and 23 January 2022, while new deaths remained similar to that reported during the previous week.

According to the WHO’s weekly epidemiological update, over 21 million new infections were detected, representing the highest number of weekly cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.

In addition, WHO regions reported nearly 50 000 new deaths.

“A slower increase in case incidence was observed at the global level, with only half of the regions reported an increase in the number of new weekly cases, as compared to five out of six regions in the previous week.”

The Eastern Mediterranean region recorded the largest peak in the number of new cases (39%), followed by South-East Asia (36%) and Europe (13%), while Africa reported the largest dip in the number of new cases (31%).

The highest numbers of new cases were reported from the United States (4 215 852 new cases, a 24% decrease), France (2 443 821 new cases, a 21% increase), India (2 115 100 new cases, a 33% increase), Italy (1 231 741 new cases, similar to the previous week), and Brazil (824 579 new cases, a 73% increase).

According to the agency, of the 372 680 sequences with specimens collected in the last 30 days, 332 155 (89.1%) were Omicron, 39 804 (10.7%) were Delta, while the rest of the circulating variants account for less than 1%.

The Department of Health has refuted claims by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) that vaccines may cause a small change to the women’s menstrual cycle length, citing a “new study” published in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology medical journal.

The CGE said: “When scientists establish a connection between COVID-19 vaccinations and women’s reproductive health, such as menstrual cycles, many women may not be comfortable taking vaccines, due to possible long-term effects. These women’s wish to delay vaccinating should be respected in the context of our country’s human rights’ commitment”.

The Commission went further and warned against imposing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination on employees and students.

However, the department has since rebutted the Chapter 9 institution’s statement that was released on 16 January 2022.

“It is of concern that the statement released by the CGE on menstrual irregularities associated with COVID-19 vaccines appears to have been done without consultation with any of expert institutions.”

The department also believes that the statement has not considered all available evidence and the substantial benefit associated with vaccinating women of reproductive age and pregnant women.

“The department respects the freedom of expression by any individual or organisation as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic. However, we believe such freedom should be exercised responsibly to impart information or ideas to empower our people to make well-informed health choices during these difficult times.”

The department has also backed the latest media release by various organisations in the health sector, including the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) disputing the facts presented by the CGE.

“COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against severe illness, and immunising women of reproductive age is important as both South African and global data have clearly shown that SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy significantly worsens obstetric and neonatal outcomes, making it imperative that vaccination programmes target young women before and during pregnancy.”

In addition, it emphasised that the current discussions around vaccine mandate have no bearing on the effectiveness and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

“We dismiss any argument against the constitutionally of vaccine mandate based on fallacious and non-scientific evidence.”

Meanwhile, the department said committees of highly qualified scientists and clinicians including the Ministerial Advisory Committee of Vaccines (VMAC) and National Immunisation Safety Expert Committee (NISEC) whose mandate entails reviewing vaccine safety data advice to the Health Minister.

In addition, the South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (SASOG) and the South African Medical Association (SAMA), also offer evidence-based recommendations on vaccine use.

“The conclusion by the Commission that ‘many women may not be comfortable taking vaccines, due to possible long-term effects’ is not supported by data and is not based on a risk-benefit analysis.”

The department is of the view that the CGE’s statement may contribute to misinformation and vaccine hesitancy in young women, and at its worst, lead to maternal and neonatal deaths.

The department said it would also be engaging with the CGE further on the matter.

South Africa detected 1 332 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24-hour reporting cycle, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Monday.

According to NICD data, Gauteng remains the hardest-hit province, with 460 people who have contracted the virus, followed by 232 in the Western Cape, 213 in KwaZulu-Natal and 114 in Mpumalanga.

Meanwhile, the rest of the provinces recorded under 100 infections, bringing the positivity rate to 7.8%.

This means the country now has 3 582 691 laboratory-confirmed cases to date.

In addition, the Department of Health reported 88 deaths due to the ongoing audit exercise and backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases.

According to the department, of the latest fatalities, only 14 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours, pushing the death toll to 94 265 since the outbreak.

Hospital admissions have increased by 89 to 6 387 out of the 74 500 active cases.

In addition, the department administered 78 888 new COVID-19 vaccine shots in the last 24 hours, meaning that there are now 29 452 653 jabs that have been distributed.

Meanwhile, the country is home to 16 300 265 or 40.96% adults who are fully jabbed, while 1 151 223 children between the ages of 12 and 17 have received their vaccine.

Globally, as of 24 January 2022, there have been 349 641 119 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5 592 266 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation.

South Africa recorded close to 4 000 new COVID-19 infections, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Thursday.

According to the NICD’s latest statistics, 3 962 more people tested positive for Coronavirus, pushing the tally to 3 572 860 since the first case was detected in South Africa.

The data shows that the increase represents a 10.6% positivity rate, with Gauteng accounting for 928 infections logged in the past 24 hours.

The province is followed by 813 cases in the Western Cape, 681 in KwaZulu-Natal and 412 in Limpopo.

Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the Department of Health, the country reported 139 deaths, of which 31 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours. This brings the death toll to 93 846 to date.

Meanwhile, hospital admissions went up by 135 to 7 059 patients who are currently receiving treatment at health institutions across the country.

The NICD has encouraged South Africans to continue to get vaccinated for COVID-19, wear masks, gather in ventilated spaces, avoid unnecessary gatherings, keep a social distance of one metre or more and wash hands regularly in the day with soap and water.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are now 336 790 193 confirmed global cases of COVID-19 and 5 560 718 deaths reported to the agency.