A healthcare worker conducts a PCR Covid-19 test at the Lancet laboratory in Johannesburg on 30 November 2021. Photo: EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP
South Africa on Christmas Day recorded a total of 14,828 new Covid-19 cases and a further 30 related deaths, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
This increase represented a 25.7% positivity rate.
The figures brought the total number of confirmed Covid-19 laboratory cases to 3,407,937 since the start of the pandemic in the country.
The total number of fatalities to date stood at 90,773.
21,038,633 tests were conducted in both public and private sectors as the country battles the fourth wave of infections, driven by the Omicron variant.
The majority of new cases on Saturday were from the Western Cape at 3,749 (25%) followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 3,601 (24%).
Gauteng accounted for 19%; Eastern Cape 12% and Free State 5%. Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 4% of the new Covid cases, Limpopo and Northern Cape each accounted for 3% of new cases reported.
The proportion of positive new cases on Christmas Day was 25.7%, which is lower than Friday (29.4%). The seven-day average was 29.0% on Saturday, which is lower than Friday as well (29.4%).
In terms of hospital admissions, there was an increase of 80 admissions in the past 24 hours.
The following table is a summary of reported Covid admissions by sector.
Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe
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