Medics use a stretcher to remove a Covid-19 patient from an ambulance, 21 June 2021, as they admit the patient to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Covid-19 facility in Soweto. Picture: Citizen.co.za/Michel Bega
As of Friday, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 1,895,905 with 18,762 new cases identified, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed, representing a 25.5% positivity rate
A further 215 Covid-19-related deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll in South Africa to 59 621. There are currently 145 904 active cases.
During the course of the pandemic, 1,690,380 people have recovered, which translates to a recovery rate of 89.2%. To date, 2,661,378 vaccines have been administered in South Africa.
An increase of 606 hospital admissions have been reported in the past 24 hours. There are currently 7,292 patients admitted at private facilities and 3,857 patients at public facilities.
At the time of publishing, Gauteng accounts for the majority of new cases (11,777, or 63% of the daily total), followed by the Western Cape with 1,758 cases (9%) and North West with 1,073 new cases.
Limpopo reported 832 new cases, while KwaZulu-Natal recorded 997 and Mpumalanga 877. In the Free State, 523 residents contracted Covid-19, along with 591 in the Eastern Cape and 334 in the Northern Cape.
Acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane shared a grim message on Friday morning, saying “it is inevitable the wave in Gauteng will spread to the rest of the country.
READ MORE: Gauteng Covid-19 surge spread to rest of SA ‘inevitable’
At the time of publishing, Covid-19 is affecting 220 countries and territories. The global caseload now exceeds 181 000 000, with the death toll at 3,925,285. Since the start of the pandemic, 165,778,491 patients have recovered.
The US is the worst affected with 619,152 deaths from 34,482,672. After the US, the hardest-hit countries are India with 394,524 deaths from 30,183,143 cases and Brazil with 511,272 deaths from 18,322,760 cases.
France has 110,939 deaths from 5,766,315 cases while Russia recorded 132,064 deaths from 5,409,088 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 Turkey. (World Meters Info)
In other news, the Israeli health ministry reimposes a requirement for masks to be worn in enclosed public places, following a surge in Covid-19 cases since the rule was dropped 10 days ago.
Sydney streets were nearly deserted on Saturday at the start of a beefed-up two-week lockdown to contain the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant sweeping Australia’s largest city.
Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who is battling Covid-19 at the age of 68, has arrived in Cuba for medical treatment, Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise has announced. (AFP)
NOW READ: Covid-19: Still not enough vaccines for all South Africans
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