Healthcare workers administer the first batch of Johnson & Johnson vaccines at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto on 17 February 2021, as health workers receive the first jabs of the vaccine in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Picture: Michel Bega
As of Thursday, South African has recorded a total of 3.667,560 cases of Covid-19, with 2,411 new cases identified in the past 24 hours.
This increase represents a 7.8% 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 (36%), followed by Western Cape (20%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 18%; Mpumalanga accounted for 8% and Free State accounted for 6%. Northern Cape accounted for 5%; Eastern Cape accounted for 4%; Limpopo accounted for 3%; and North West accounted for 2% of today’s new cases.
“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 40 deaths and of these, 7 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99,018 to date,” says the NICD.
22.994,945 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.
There has been an increase of 82 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II cancels two virtual engagements after testing positive for the virus at the weekend.
Hong Kong’s government invokes emergency powers to allow doctors, nurses and other healthcare personnel from the Chinese mainland to help combat a spiralling outbreak.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revokes emergency powers used to dislodge trucker-led protests against Covid restrictions as he declares the crisis over.
But in the United States hundreds of truckers and their supporters set off from southern California on a convoy headed towards the capital Washington to protest against pandemic restrictions.
Taiwan, one of the few places alongside China still pursuing a zero-Covid strategy, announces plans to reopen to business travellers and shorten quarantine.
ALSO READ: Covid-19 update: SA reports 3,118 new cases and 110 deaths
Australian airline Qantas says it has lost more than Aus$20 billion (US$14 billion) in revenue since the start of the pandemic, as it reports a large six-month loss.
Coronavirus has killed at least 5,914,829 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources Thursday.
The United States has recorded the most Covid deaths with 941,908, followed by Brazil with 646,419 and India with 512,924.
Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates the true death toll could be two to three times higher.
Additional reporting by AFP
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