Covid-19 update: 26,485 new cases recorded in SA

As of Saturday, South Africa’s total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is 2,046,311 after 26,485 new cases were recorded since the last report.

Saturday’s increase represents a 27.3% positivity rate according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

Gauteng province still accounts for the majority of new cases (33.8%), followed by the Western Cape (16.2%), and KwaZulu-Natal (17.5%).

An increase of 557 hospital admissions have been reported in the past 24 hours with the Johannesburg mayor among said admissions.

175 more Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 61,507

13,395,135 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 96,896 tests were conducted in the last 24 hrs, with 26,485 new cases, which represents a 27.3% positivity rate. A further 175 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 61,507 to date. Read more: https://t.co/MbNpEUWvwN pic.twitter.com/aq8Cm5NakX

— NICD (@nicd_sa) July 3, 2021

South Africa’s vaccine programme gets a boost

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority’s (Sahpra) announced the approval of the use of the Chinese-produced vaccine in South Africa in a statement on Saturday.

“The Sahpra has authorised the CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine, manufactured by Sinovac Life Sciences Co, and imported by Curanto Pharma (Pty) Ltd,” read the statement.

“The authorisation was done in terms of Section 21 of the Medicines and Related Substance Act 101 of 1965, a mechanism in the Medicines Act that enables emergency use access and also enables Sahpra to authorise a medicine subject to certain conditions.”

It said that the vaccine is indicated for active immunisation in individuals aged between 18 and 59 years against Covid-19.

“The vaccine is administered as two doses of 0,5ml, given intramuscularly, with the second dose administered between 14 and 28 days after the first dose.”

The health regulatory body said the approval of the vaccine was also subject to a number of conditions.

This is the third vaccine after the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccines to be approved for use in South Africa.

The Chinese Embassy in South Africa also vowed to continue to fully assist and accommodate South Africa in a bid to ensure that the Chinese-made vaccines are delivered to South Africa as quickly as possible.

At the time of writing, it was unclear how many vaccines would be sent to South Africa.

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Compiled by Kaunda Selisho