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Covid-19 update: 2,489 new cases in the past 24 hours
The majority of the new Covid-19 cases came from Gauteng, followed by Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Health workers are seen at the Nasrec Field Hospital for Covid-19, 25 January 2021. Picture: Michel Bega
As of Saturday, 12 February, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 3,637,673 with 2,489 new cases identified, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed.
This represents a 7.6% positivity rate.
134 Covid-19 related deaths – of which 9 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours – was reported, bringing the total number of deaths to 96,985.
There has been an increase of 43 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
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The total number of recoveries stood at 3,500,826 with a recovery rate of 95,2%. The country currently has 42,351 active cases.
22,656,918 tests in total have been conducted to date in both public and private sectors.
The total number of vaccines administered in the country so far stands at 30,555,190 as of Saturday.
Provincial breakdown
The majority of the new Covid-19 cases came from Gauteng (942), followed by Western Cape (418) and KwaZulu-Natal (349).
Mpumalanga (233) then follows, while both Limpopo and North West recorded 141 new cases.
Free State recorded 127 cases followed by Eastern Cape (85) and Northern Cape (53) had the lowest cases for Sunday.
Global developments
State of emergency in Ontario
Canada’s Ontario province declares a state of emergency over trucker-led anti-Covid restriction protests, as Premier Doug Ford vows to do whatever it takes to end the blockades.
French copycat trucker protest
French President Emmanuel Macron calls for calm as thousands of people across France head towards Paris in convoys to protest Covid vaccination rules and other restrictions.
‘Acute phase’ could end by midyear
The head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the acute phase of the pandemic could end this year, if around 70 percent of the world gets vaccinated “around June, July”.
France, Italy ease mask rules
French coronavirus rules will no longer require people to wear masks indoors from February 28 in places which now require proof of vaccination to enter, the health ministry says, citing an “improvement in the health situation”.
And Italy ends a requirement to wear masks outside, as the number of coronavirus cases eases there.
Germany nears peak
Germany’s surge in infections is reaching its peak, Chancellor Olaf Scholz says, signalling that Europe’s biggest economy can soon ease curbs.
Belgium eases night curbs
Belgium will reopen nightclubs and allow bars to stay open beyond midnight in a week’s time, but the vaccine certificate will remain in place, Prime Minister Alexander de Croo says.
Iceland eases up early
Iceland announces it will ease some coronavirus restrictions at the weekend – including limits on crowd numbers and restaurant opening hours – before lifting all measures at the end of the month, two weeks ahead of schedule.
US doses for Africa
The United States ships nearly 1.9 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Mozambique, Zambia, The Republic of Congo Namibia and Eswatini in the latest surge of donations.
Over 5.7 million deaths
Coronavirus has killed at least 5,787,923 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Friday.
The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 915,617, followed by Brazil with 636,017, India 507,177 and Russia 338,813.
Taking into account excess mortality linked to Covid-19, the WHO estimates the overall death toll could be two to three times higher.
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