Daily Covid-19 update: 16,078 new cases, 148 deaths

Gauteng accounts for the majority of new cases (59%), followed by the Western Cape (12 %).

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Workers clean beds inside a ward of a field hospital for Covid-19 coronavirus patients at a park in Manila on June 24, 2021. Photo: AFP/Maria Tan

As of Thursday, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 1,877,143 with 16,078 new cases identified, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed, representing a 24.5% positivity rate

A further 148 Covid-19-related deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll in South Africa to 59 406. There are currently 141 910 active cases.

During the course of the pandemic, 1,675,827 people have recovered, which translates to a recovery rate of 89.3%. To date, 2,550,248 vaccines have been administered in South Africa.

An increase of 607 hospital admissions have been reported in the past 24 hours. There are currently 7,100 patients admitted at private facilities and 3,636 patients at public facilities.

#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 65,631 tests were conducted in the last 24 hrs, with 16,078 new cases, which represents a 24.5% positivity rate. A further 148 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 59,406 to date. Read more: https://t.co/yPNhVnfaHP pic.twitter.com/gVkl9rzNTO

— NICD (@nicd_sa) June 24, 2021

Rise in new infections

At the time of publishing, Gauteng accounts for the majority of new cases (9,521, or 59% of the daily total), followed by the Western Cape with 1,912 cases (12 %) and North West with 1,143 new cases.

Limpopo showed a sharp rise as well with 867 new cases, while KwaZulu-Natal recorded 696 new cases Mpumalanga 630. In the Free State, 552 residents contracted Covid-19; 466 in the Eastern Cape and 291 in the Northern Cape.

While the education sector prepares to vaccinate more than 580,000 employees in the next two weeks, senior citizens in the Eastern Cape and other rural areas who are eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines are being left behind.

Global Covid-19 statistics

At the time of publishing, Covid-19 is affecting 220 countries and territories. The global caseload now exceeds 180 000 000, with the death toll at 3,915,962. Since the start of the pandemic, 165,412,926 patients have recovered.

The US is the worst affected with 618,685 deaths from 34,464,956. After the US, the hardest-hit countries are India with 393,338 deaths from 30,133,417 cases and Brazil with 509,282 deaths from 18,243,483 cases.

France has 110,906 deaths from 5,764,329 cases while Turkey recorded 49,417 deaths from 5,393,248 cases. South Africa is currently 19th on the list, preceded, in order, by Peru, Indonesia, Ukraine, Mexico, Poland, Iran, Germany, Spain, Colombia, Italy, Argentina, the UK, and Russia. (World Meters Info)

In other news, Fiji health chiefs have admitted for the first time that Covid-19 transmission is widespread in the community after the Pacific nation recorded more than 300 new daily cases.

Japan’s prime minister on Friday dismissed claims that the country’s emperor is “concerned” the Tokyo Olympics could spread the coronavirus, saying the comments were the opinions of an imperial household representative.

The Covid-19 pandemic is also pushing more people into drug use, while illicit cultivation could also get a boost, the UN said Thursday, warning that the crisis’s fallout was likely to be felt “for years to come”.

Now read: ‘I’m on my knees’: Makhura pleads with Gauteng as Covid cases surge