Covid-19 update: SA records 3,197 new cases and 132 deaths

South Africa has recorded a total of 3.585,888 positive cases of Covid-19, with 3,197 new cases identified in the past 24 hours, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, announced on Tuesday.

This increase represents an 8.8% positivity rate.

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (28%), followed by Kwa-Zulu Natal (15%). Western Cape accounted for 14%; Limpopo accounted for 13%; Mpumalanga accounted for 8%; Eastern Cape and Free State each accounted for 7% respectively; North West accounted for 6%; 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 132 deaths and of these, 23 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 94,397 to date.”

22.077,649 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

There has been an increase of 179 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

– 5.6 million dead –

The coronavirus has killed at least 5.602,767 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Tuesday.

The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 868,512, followed by Brazil with 623,356, India on 490,462 and Russia 327,448.

Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.

Pfizer and BioNTech say they have begun enrolment for a clinical trial to test the safety and immune response of their Omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine in adults aged up to 55. 

Additional reporting by AFP