Covid-19 update: 132 new deaths bring SA’s total to 88,236
The coronavirus has killed at least 4,830,270 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 17: Dr. Debjeet Sarkar places 63 flags into the ground to represent the patients he cared for who died from the coronavirus as part of the ‘In America: Remember,’ a public art installation commemorating all the Americans who have died due to COVID-19 near the Washington Monument on September 17, 2021 in Washington, DC. A military veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sarkar lives in Maryland and has traveled across the country to treat COVID patients in places overwhelmed by the virus. The concept of artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg, the installation includes more than 660,000 small plastic flags, some with personal messages to those who have died, planted in 20 acres of the National Mall. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
As of Friday, South Africa has recorded a total of 2.910.681 positive cases of Covid-19, with 924 new cases identified since the last report, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has announced.
This increase represents a 2.8% positivity rate.
The majority of new cases today are from Western Cape (22%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (19%). Gauteng Province accounted for 15%; Free State accounted for 12%; Eastern Cape accounted for 11%; Northern Cape accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 5% respectively; and Limpopo accounted for 4% of today’s new cases, said the institute.
The country also recorded 132 Covid-19 related death, bringing total fatalities to 88,236 to date.
17.931,034 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
There has been an increase of 83 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
– ‘Stupid’ rich hogging jabs –
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres brands rich nations hogging vaccines supplies as stupid and immoral, saying choking off poorer countries’ access to jabs risks undermining their own defences against the pandemic.
– Sputnik on course –
The World Health Organization is to restart the process of approving Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine after a series of problems with the dossier.
The jab created by Russia’s Gamaleya research institute is already being used in 45 countries, according to an AFP count.
– Papua ‘three times worse’ –
WHO data seen by AFP show the Covid crisis in Papua New Guinea may be much worse than reported, with three times as many infections as officially admitted.
– Britain’s NHS suffering –
Britain’s National Health Service — which employs staff from 211 nationalities in England alone — is facing major staff shortages because of a triple whammy of the virus, Brexit and tougher immigration rules.
– More than 4.8 million dead –
The coronavirus has killed at least 4,830,270 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data.
The US is the worst-affected country with 710,180 deaths, followed by Brazil with 599,810, India with 450,127, Mexico 281,121 and Russia with 214,485.
Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were the US with 2,508 new deaths, followed by Russia with 936 and Mexico with 514.
Additional reporting by AFP
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