Covid-19 update: 7,523 new cases reported in SA

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, has reported 7,523 new Covid-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa in the past 24 hours.

This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3.852,148. This increase represents a 23.0% positivity rate.

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (38%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (24%). Western Cape accounted for 17%; Eastern Cape accounted for 8%; Free State accounted for 5%; North West accounted for 4%; Mpumalanga accounted for 3%; and Limpopo and Northern Cape each accounted for 1% respectively of today’s new cases.

The country has also recorded 26 deaths and of these, 8 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours. The cumulative Covid-19 deaths are 100,559 to date.

24.726,029 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

There has been an increase of 148 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) is yet to clarify details surrounding side-effects related to the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine.

Researchers with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US found that the vaccine resulted in 60 confirmed cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

This leads to rare but potentially life-threatening blood clots, the FDA said, one to two weeks after receiving the shot.

With multiple vaccines available, the FDA decided to bench the J&J vaccine, only to be used when other options are unavailable.

Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said the institution recognize that the Janssen Covid-19 Vaccine still has a role in the current pandemic response in the United States and across the global community.

READ MORE: Sahpra reviewing side-effects related to Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine

Additional reporting by Faizel Patel