SA records 1 599 new COVID-19 infections

South Africa performed 34 971 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours, with 1 599 new cases, representing a 4.6% positivity rate.

Meanwhile, according to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, 75 more people succumbed to COVID-19 related complications.

This means the country now has 1 561 559 confirmed Coronavirus infections, while the death toll stands at 53 498 to date.

Gauteng recorded 26 deaths, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 24 fatalities, while 14 occurred in the Eastern Cape.

Also, nine fatalities were recorded in Free State, two in the Western Cape, while the rest of the provinces had zero deaths.

“We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the healthcare workers who treated the deceased,” said Mkhize.

Meanwhile, the recovery rate remains at 95% after 1 486 873 beat COVID-19, while the country has 21 188 has active cases.

The information is based on the 10 216 114 tests since the outbreak.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there have been 136 996 364 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2 951 832 deaths, with 733 287 398 administered vaccine doses as of 14 April 2021.

Global view

The WHO said the new COVID-19 cases rose for a seventh consecutive week, with over 4.5 million new infections reported in the last week.

In addition, the number of additional deaths increased for the fourth consecutive week, peaking by 7% compared to last week, with over 76 000 new deaths reported.

The largest increases in case incidence were observed in South-East Asia, most notably in India, and the Eastern Mediterranean regions.

“All regions, except for the African region and the Americas, reported increases in the number of deaths, with the largest increase of 189% from the Western Pacific region, largely driven by a steep increase in new deaths in the Philippines, followed by 47% in South-East Asia.”

The highest numbers of new cases were reported from India (873 296 new cases, 70% increase), the United States (468 395 new cases, 5% increase), Brazil (463 092 new cases, 8% decrease), Turkey (353 281 new cases, 33% increase), and France (265 444 new cases, 9% increase).

According to WHO, since the last update on 30 March, the 501Y.V2 variant, first discovered in South Africa, has been reported from two additional countries – totalling 82 countries across all six WHO regions.