Covid-19 update: 1,649 new cases and 18 deaths reported

South African has recorded a total of 3.675,691 positive cases of Covid-19, with 1,649 new cases identified in the past 24 hours.

This increase represents a 6.3% positivity rate, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, has announced.

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng Province (37%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape, each accounting for 20% and 19%, respectively. Mpumalanga accounted for 7%; Free State, Eastern Cape and North West each accounted for 4%; Limpopo accounted for 3% and Northern Cape for 2% of today’s new cases, said the NICD.

“Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported. Today, the NDoH reports 18 deaths, and of these, 6 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99,430 to date,” IT SAID.

23.111,817 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

There has been an increase of 49 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. 

#COVID19 UPDATE: 26,360 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 1,649 new cases, which represents a 6.3% positivity rate. Today @HealthZA reports 18 deaths; of which 6 occurred in the past 24–48 hrs. Total fatalities are 99,430 to date: https://t.co/I2KuL3r0mK pic.twitter.com/1IAYBG4Qdm

— NICD (@nicd_sa) March 1, 2022

Covid-19: Latest global developments

– Queen Elizabeth II back to work –

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, 95, holds two virtual audiences after she was forced to cancel engagements last week since catching the virus.

– England scraps carers’ jab mandate –

Health and social care workers in England will no longer have to have a Covid jab as a condition of employment from later this month, the government says.

– Zero deaths in South Africa –

South Africa records zero virus deaths for two days, for the first time since May 2020, health authorities say.

– Hong Kong panic buying –

Hong Kongers strip shop shelves bare amid panic buying over fears that the government intends to impose a China-style hard lockdown.

– China could ‘co-exist’ with virus –

China could move away from its zero-Covid strategy “in the near future” and co-exist with the virus, a top Chinese scientist says.

ALSO READ: Covid-19 deaths: SA records zero fatalities for first time since May 2020

– Valneva vaccine for Bahrain –

French-Austrian biotech firm Valneva says its vaccine has received emergency authorisation for use in Bahrain, the first approval for the jab.

– Nearly six million dead –

Covid-19 has killed at least 5.952,685 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally based on official sources on Tuesday.

The United States has recorded the most Covid deaths with 950,481, followed by Brazil on 649,333, India on 514,023.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid, the WHO estimates the true death toll could be two to three times higher.

Additional reporting by AFP