Covid-19 update: SA records biggest drop in cases

As of today, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is 635,078, announced Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.

The country has also recorded 115 more Covid-19 deaths: 15 from KwaZulu-Natal, 43 from Gauteng, 12 from Eastern Cape, 18 from Free State, 4 from Western Cape, 11 from Northern Cape and 12 from Limpopo. This brings the total number of deaths to 14,678.

“We extend our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers that treated the deceased patients. Our recoveries now stand at 557,818, which translates to a recovery rate of 88%.

“”We are encouraged to see some key indicators showing improvement in the state of the South African pandemic. In the world ranking of total number of cases per country, we have dropped from 5th position to 7th position. We are also encouraged to see the number of active cases steadily declining from 90,103 on 20 August to 62,582 today – this translates to a 31% decreases in two weeks.

“We continue to register a high recovery rate at 88%. The testing positivity rate continues to decline as well, now at 11% nationally – on 12 July, corresponding more or less with the peak of our pandemic, we recorded the highest positively rate at 30%,” said Mkhize.

Source: Health department

Israel cases surge, South Africa slows: a week in Covid-19

An increase in cases in Israel, France and Indonesia, a decline in South Africa: here is a weekly roundup of developments in the coronavirus crisis:

– Most new cases –

India, the United States and Brazil remain the three countries recording the greatest number of new cases over the past seven days, with 77,596, 40,875 and 40,035 cases respectively per day on average, according to an AFP count on Friday at 1100GMT.

While the number of cases was on the increase in India (15 percent more cases compared with the previous seven-day period), and Brazil (eight percent more), the situation is more or less stable in the United States with -1 percent.

Next in line come Argentina (10,129 per day), Colombia (8,507), Spain (8,429) and Peru (6,878).

The number of confirmed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, with countries having differing counting practices and levels of testing.

– Biggest increases –

Israel is the country where the number of cases is picking up most, with its average of new cases per day representing a 57 percent rise, the biggest such jump among countries recording at least 1,000 cases per day on average over the past week.

France follows with 36 percent or 5,783 more daily cases, Indonesia (36 percent, 3,054), Nepal (25 percent, 1,049) and the United Kingdom (24 percent, 1,434).

– Biggest drops –

At the other end of the spectrum, the biggest drops have taken place in South Africa (-20 percent, 2,104 new cases per day) the Philippines (-17 percent, 3,260) Ethiopia (-17 percent, 1,258) and Iran (-15 percent, 1,850), as well as Colombia (-13 percent, 8,507).

– By region –

There was a pickup in the number of cases in Europe and Asia, with 12 percent more each compared to the previous seven-day period, and also in the Middle East (six percent) and Latin America and the Caribbean (three percent).

On other continents there was a decrease in Oceania (-26 percent), Africa (-12 percent), and slightly in North America (-1 percent).

At the global level, the pandemic is slightly picking up steam by six percent with an average of 265,688 daily cases,

– Deaths –

India registered the most deaths over the past week, with 6,904, ahead of the United States  (6,171), Brazil (5,965), Mexico (3,735), Colombia (2,150), Argentina (1,311) and Peru (1,128).

– Global toll – 

The pandemic has killed at least 869,718 people around the world since late December, out of 26.5 million confirmed cases.

The United States has recorded by far the highest number of deaths with 186,806, followed by Brazil with 124,614, India 68,472 and Mexico 66,329.

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