South Africa recorded 1 241 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, while 74 more people lost their lives to the respiratory disease.
Of the latest fatalities, 35 are from the Eastern Cape, 11 from the Western Cape, eight each from Gauteng and the Northern Cape, six each from the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
According to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, 10 deaths were reported in the past 24 to 48 hours, bringing the death toll to 19 539.
“We extend our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the healthcare workers who treated the deceased patients,” the Minister said.
Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 cases now sits at 728 836, with 50 048 cases still active.
The recovery rate is still standing at 90%, after 659 249 patients recuperated to date.
The information is based on the 4 868 610 tests conducted to date, with 15 692 performed since the last report.
Global view
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over 3.3 million new cases have been reported globally in the past week.
The European region recorded the most noticeable increase, half of the global new cases of over 1.7 million cases – a 22% upsurge from the previous week.
The region also reported a substantial 46% increase compared with the previous week’s rise in the number of new deaths, with Europe and the Americas now each reporting over 17 000 new deaths in the last seven days.
Meanwhile, the Americas and the Eastern Mediterranean regions have also seen relatively smaller rises in the number of reported cases.
“The South East Asia region has continued to report a decline in new cases and deaths, while case incidence continues to fluctuate around similar rates compared to recent weeks in the African and Western Pacific regions,” said WHO.
Since the outbreak, nine countries have reported more than one million confirmed cases, namely, the United States, India, Brazil, Russian Federation, France, Spain, Argentina, Colombia, and the United Kingdom.
African region
Africa has experienced a four-week trend with a gradual rise in the number of new cases reported in the past seven days, with almost 33 000 new cases – 1% of new global cases.
However, the number of newly reported deaths has continued to decline since a spike was observed three weeks ago following South Africa’s “retrospective capturing” of a large number of deaths, the organisation said.
According to WHO, South Africa, Kenya, and Ethiopia continue to report the highest numbers of new cases, while the highest number of new deaths per million population in the region was reported in South Africa (six new cases per million population).
In Nigeria, weekly new cases have decreased gradually since September, while deaths have remained relatively low.
The WHO has recorded 46 840 783 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 1 204 028 deaths, to date.
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