Covid-19 update: SA records 460 new deaths

As of Thursday, South Africa has recorded a total of 2, 135, 246 positive cases of Covid-19, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has announced.

The country has also recorded 22, 910 new Covid-19 cases since the last report.

The increase represents a 30.4% positivity rate.

460 Covid-19 related deaths have also been reported, bringing total fatalities to 63 499 to date.

13 694 914 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below. There has been an increase of 711 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours, said the NICD.

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

– Olympics under emergency –

A state of virus emergency will stretch throughout the Tokyo Games, Japan’s government announces, as infections rise in the capital and reports say organisers could bar fans from almost all events.

– Vaccines rushed to Sydney –

Australia’s prime minister announces 300,000 vaccine doses will be rushed to Sydney, as the country’s largest city struggles to bring a Delta outbreak under control.

– Delta in Sao Paulo –

The highly contagious Delta variant “is already circulating” in Brazil’s most populated state, Sao Paulo, in the country with the world’s second-highest death toll.

– Spain, Portugal warning –

France warns its nationals against travelling to Spain or Portugal on holiday because of a spike in cases caused by the Delta variant.

– Brazil’s political saga –

A former director of Brazil’s health ministry is arrested on charges of perjury while testifying before a Senate commission investigating how the government of President Jair Bolsonaro has handled the pandemic.

– Hardest-hit Brits –

Ethnic minorities, the self-employed and low-income families in Britain suffered greater deprivation levels during the pandemic despite “surprisingly positive” living standards figures, a newly published report finds.

– Asian Games postponed –

The Southeast Asian Games, due to take place in Vietnam this year, have been postponed because of the pandemic and will most likely be held in 2022, a member of the organising council says.

– 4 million dead –

The pandemic has killed at least 4,004,966 people since the virus first emerged in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 606,218 deaths, followed by Brazil with 528,540, India with 405,028, Mexico with 234,192 and Peru 193,743.

The World Health Organization says up to three times more people have died directly or indirectly due to the pandemic than official figures suggest.