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Covid-19 update: Cases increase in the past 24 hours as 89 deaths reported
3,699 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed, representing a 9.7% positivity rate.
Health workers are seen at the Nasrec Field Hospital for Covid-19, 25 January 2021. Picture: Michel Bega
As of Wednesday, 16 February, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 3,648,968 with 3,699 new cases identified, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed.
This represents a 9.7% positivity rate.
89 Covid-19 related deaths – of which 7 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours – was reported, bringing the total number of deaths to 97,520.
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There were 78 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
The total number of recoveries stood at 3,513,078 with a recovery rate of 96,3%. The country currently has 38,370 active cases.
22,762,117 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 30,779,273 as of 16 February.
Provincial breakdown
The majority of the new Covid-19 cases came from Gauteng (1,328), followed by Western Cape (636) and KwaZulu-Natal (458).
North West (338) then follows, while Mpumalanga and Free State recorded 317 and 237 new cases respectively.
Limpopo recorded 176 cases followed by Eastern Cape (143) and Northern Cape (66) had the lowest cases for Sunday.
Global developments
Xi’s Hong Kong order
Chinese leader Xi Jinping tells Hong Kong to take “all necessary measures” to control an Omicron-fuelled outbreak a day after the city’s leader Carrie Lam ruled out a China-style hard lockdown.
Canada truckers dig in
Trucker-led protesters occupying the Canadian capital show no sign of backing down despite a new state of emergency granting wide powers to end their weeks-long protest over Covid rules.
As border control ease
Canada eases checks and rules for travellers at its borders as the Omicron wave there passes its peak.
New Zealand’s record cases
New Zealand infections reach a record high as anti-vaccine protesters claim victory after police failed to clear vehicles blocking the streets around parliament in a Canada-inspired stand-off.
Dutch go back to normal
The Netherlands is dropping almost all restrictions, the latest European country to try to return to normal despite still-high Omicron infections.
Babies safer with jab
Babies born to fully vaccinated mothers were around 60 percent less likely to be hospitalised with severe Covid, a new official US study says.
French debt warning
France’s public accounts watchdog warns about the state of the country’s finances after President Emmanuel Macron promised to spend “whatever it costs” to save the economy from the virus.
Over 5.8 million dead
Coronavirus has killed at least 5,836,026 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources Wednesday.
The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 925,560, followed by Brazil with 639,689, and India 509,872.
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
