Covid-19 update: 4,514 new cases reported in SA, active cases down to 66,410

The number of active Covid-19 cases in South Africa now stands at 66,410 after the country identified 4,514 new cases in the past 24 hours.

This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3.590,399. This increase represents a 10.6% 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 (30%), followed by Western Cape (14%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 13%; Mpumalanga accounted for 11%; Limpopo accounted for 10%; North West accounted for 9%; Free State accounted for 6%; Eastern Cape accounted for 5%; and Northern Cape 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 94 deaths and of these, 20 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 94,491 to date,” said the NICD.

22.120,335 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

There has been an increase of 183 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. 

New covid variant ‘no cause for concern’, says NICD

The NICD says the latest known Covid-19 variant – BA.2 – is not a cause for concern yet.

NICD held a meeting on Wednesday, 26 January as part of their Covid-19 series: Decoding the Science. They discussed issues including vaccine efficacy and the immune response to Omicron.

The new version of the virus is a descendent of the Omicron variant (now referred to as BA.1) that was responsible for the country’s fourth wave of infections.

BA.2 was first identified in South Africa and India in late December 2021. Although other sub-lineages have been identified, they have not been in the public eye due to the increase in cases of people who have contracted the BA.2 variant.

Additional reporting by Karabo Mashaba