The cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in South Africa now stands at 2,916,179. Photo: iStock
The latest data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) shows that South Africa recorded 3,286 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the cumulative total in the country to 2,880,349.
There were also 164 new Covid-19 related deaths, bringing the total deaths to 86,116.
The current surge in Covid-19 infections seems to be showing signs of a sustained downward trend, the NICD said.
The increase in new cases on Saturday represents a 8% positivity rate.
Most of the new cases on Saturday were from KwaZulu-Natal (25%), followed by the Eastern Cape (16%). Western Cape accounted for 15%; Free State accounted for 12%; Gauteng accounted for 11%; the Northern Cape accounted for 8%; North West accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; and Limpopo accounted for 1% of the new cases.
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The cumulative number of recoveries now stand at 2,728,961 with a recovery rate of 94.7%.
According to the Department of Health, a total of 15,970,308 vaccines have been administered as of Saturday.
The coronavirus has killed at least 4,678,016 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data.
The United States is the worst-affected country with 672,880 deaths, followed by Brazil with 589,573, India with 444,529, Mexico 270,538 and Peru 198,948.
The countries that have recorded the most deaths over the last seven days are: the United States, with 15,570; Russia, with 5,461; and Brazil, with 3,727.
Similar to South Africa, Covid-19 cases in North Africa are also declining sharply. In recent weeks North Africa experienced a spike in coronavirus cases which overwhelmed intensive care units and led to severe oxygen shortages.
Official figures collected by AFP, however, show that infections are down in Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Libya.
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Compiled by Gareth Cotterell
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