Covid-19 update: SA records 5,372 new cases and 282 deaths

As of Tuesday, South Africa has recorded a total 2.829,435 positive cases of Covid-19, with 5,372 cases identified since the last report, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), has announced.

This increase represents a 12.3% positivity rate, said the institute.

“As per the National Department of Health, a further 282 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 83,899 to date,” it said.

16.822,706 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (25%), followed by Eastern Cape (24%). Western Cape accounted for 18%; Free State accounted for 11%; Gauteng Province accounted for 9%; Mpumalanga & North West each accounted for 5% respectively; Northern Cape accounted for 3%, and Limpopo Province accounted for 1% of today’s new cases.

There has been an increase of 302 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

The coronavirus has killed at least 4,574,225 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP compilation of official data. 

The United States is the worst-affected country with 649,426 deaths, followed by Brazil with 583,810, India with 441,042, Mexico 263,470 and Peru 198,523.

Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were the US with 959, followed by Russia with 795 and Iran with 635. 

Additional reporting by AFP