SA has 33,552 active cases of Covid-19

South Africa currently has 33,552 active cases of Covid-19, with a total of 3.965,422 reported cases and 3.830,585 recoveries, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, has reported.

The country has identified 2,028 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. This increase represents a 9.8% positivity rate.

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (30%), followed by Western Cape (25%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 13%; Eastern Cape accounted for 11%; Free State, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape each accounted for 5% respectively; North West accounted for 4%; and Limpopo accounted for 2% of today’s new cases.

The country has also recorded 35 deaths and of these, 10 deaths occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours. The cumulative number of Covid-19 deaths is 101,285 to date.

25.334,835 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

There has been an increase of 65 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. 

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) has announced that anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin is no longer allowed to be prescribed to Covid-19 patients.

Sahpra has terminated the controlled Compassionate Use Access Programme with immediate effect, saying there’s no credible evidence it helps treat Covid-19.

It said there have been several developments regarding the evidence of efficacy of Ivermectin since the Programme was adopted.

“No further importation of unregistered Ivermectin products will be allowed, and health facilities will no longer be enabled to hold bulk stock in anticipation of prescriptions for such unregistered Ivermectin products.”

Sahpra also said the findings of two large clinical trials conducted in 2021 do not support the use of Ivermectin for patients with Covid-19.

READ MORE: Ivermectin terminated as a treatment for Covid-19 in SA

Additional reporting by Faizel Patel