CAPE TOWN: South Africa has recorded 16 000 new Covid-19 cases and 25 deaths on Friday, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
“Today, the institute reports 16 055 new Covid-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 004 203.
“This increase represents a 24.3% positivity rate.
“As per the National Department of Health, a further 25 Covid-19-related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89 944 to date.
“A total of 19 646 423 tests have been conducted, in both public and private sectors,” the NICD said.
The organisation said the Gauteng province continues to be the epicentre of new infections as it accounted for 72% of the day’s new cases, followed by the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, which accounted for 6% of cases, respectively.
The North West accounted for 5% of cases, Mpumalanga accounted for 4% of new cases, while Limpopo accounted for 3% of Friday’s cases.
The Free State and Eastern Cape provinces each accounted for 2% of cases, respectively, while the Northern cape accounted for 1% of the day’s new cases.
The NICD said the proportion of positive new cases/total new tested on Friday is 24.3%, which is higher than that which was recorded on Thursday (22.4%).
The organisation said there has also been a significant rise in hospital admissions.
In the past 24 hours, 279 patients were admitted to hospitals across the country.
In a bid to get more South Africans vaccinated, the National Department of Health has declared December 3 until 10, “Vooma Week”, ahead of the festive break.
During this period, all provinces have been requested to increase the number of vaccination sites, especially in travel hubs, shopping malls, and recreational areas, to get as many people as possible vaccinated, in the face of the fourth wave.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL