Covid-19 update: 475 new cases reported in SA

As of Friday, South Africa has recorded a total of 2.921,589 positive cases of coronavirus, with 475 new cases identified in the past 24 hours.

This increase represents a 1.7% positivity rate.  

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (35%), followed by Western Cape accounting for 13%. KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 12%; Free State and Northern Cape each accounted for 9% respectively; Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga each accounted for 7% respectively; North West and Limpopo each accounted for 4% of today’s new cases, announced the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service.

As per the National Department of Health, a further 47 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,151 to date.

18.471,818 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

There has been an increase of 34 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

The coronavirus has killed at least 4,979,103 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources on Friday. 

The US has suffered the most Covid-related deaths with 743,362, followed by Brazil with 607,068, India with 457,191, Mexico with 287,631 and Russia 236,220.

The countries with the most new deaths were United States with 2,158, followed by Russia with 1,163 and India 805. 

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

Additional reporting by AFP