Covid-19 update: SA records 6,270 new cases

As of Thursday, South Africa has recorded a total of 2.843,042 positive cases of cornavirus, with 6,270 new cases identified since the last report, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has announced.

This increase represents a 12.0% positivity rate.

The majority of new cases today are from Western Cape (24%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (20%).Eastern Cape accounted for 18%; Gauteng Province accounted for 10%; Free State accounted for 9%; Mpumalanga & Northern Cape each accounted for 7% respectively; North West accounted for 4%; and Limpopo Province accounted for 2% of today’s new cases.

According to the institute, the current surge in Covid-19 infections seems to be showing signs of a sustained downward trend.

The country has also recorded 175 Covid-19 related deaths, bringing total fatalities to 84,327 to date.

There has been an increase of 304 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours, said the institute.

16.930,469 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 4,593,164 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1000 GMT on Thursday.

At least 222,467,600 cases of coronavirus have been registered. The vast majority have recovered, though some have continued to experience symptoms weeks or even months later.

The figures are based on daily reports provided by health authorities in each country.

They exclude revisions made by other statistical organisations, which show that the number of deaths is much higher.

Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde. Additional reporting by AFP