SA has 36,492 active cases of Covid-19

As of Monday, South Africa has recorded 36,492 active cases of Covid-19, with 1,151 identified in the past 24 hours.

This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3.659,698. This increase represents a 7.4% positivity rate, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, has announced.

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (40%), followed by North West and Western Cape, each accounting for 17%. Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 9%; Mpumalanga accounted for 7%; Free State accounted for 4%. Eastern Cape and Limpopo each accounted for 2% respectively; and Northern Cape accounted for 1% 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 137 deaths and of these, 7 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 98,804 to date,” said the NICD.

22.896,483 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors. 

There has been an increase of 42 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

Here are the latest developments in the Covid-19 crisis:

– England scraps isolation –

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces that the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive Covid test in England will end on Thursday, along with all other pandemic legal curbs.

Access to free home testing kits will also cease from April 1, he adds.

– Canadian emergency ‘not over’ –

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defends his use of emergency powers to end weeks-long trucker-led protests over Covid restrictions, warning; “This state of emergency is not over.”

– Vaccine pass for Hong Kong –

Hong Kong will launch a vaccine pass scheme this week, officials say, as hospitals struggle under an Omicron-fuelled outbreak and the finance hub sees record-high departures.

– Djokovic is back –

Novak Djokovic’s season, derailed in January when the world number one was deported from Australia before the Open, finally starts in Dubai.

– More than 5.8 million dead –

Coronavirus has killed at least 5,884,689 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Monday.

The United States has recorded the most Covid deaths with 935,335, followed by Brazil with 644,286 and India with 512,109.

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

Additional reporting by AFP