Covid-19 update: 15,424 new cases reported in SA

As of Tuesday, South Africa has reported a total of 3.332,008 positive cases of Covid-19, with 15,424 new cases identified in the past 24 hours.

This increase represents a 27.6% positivity rate.

The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (26%), followed by Western Cape (22%). Gauteng accounted for 21%; Eastern Cape 9% and Free State 6%. North West accounted for 5%; Limpopo and Mpumalanga each accounted for 4%. Northern Cape accounted for 3% of today’s new cases.

As per the National Department of Health, a further 35 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 90,488 to date, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, announced.

20.775,208 Covid-19 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors

There has been an increase of 633 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

– More than 5.3 million dead –

Covid-19 has killed at least 5.359,858 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally Tuesday from official sources compiled by AFP.

The United States has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 807,952, followed by Brazil with 617,873, India with 478,007 and Russia with 299,249.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the World Health Organization estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

Additional reporting by AFP