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Covid-19 update: 2,800 cases reported as deaths edge closer to 100K mark
343 Covid-19 related deaths, bringing the total number to 98,298.
Health workers are seen at the Nasrec Field Hospital for Covid-19 on 25 January 2021. Picture: Michel Bega
As of Friday, 18 February, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 3,654,824 with 2,800 new cases identified, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed.
This represents a 8.4% positivity rate.
343 Covid-19 related deaths – of which 4 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours – was reported, bringing the total number of deaths to 98,298.
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There were 104 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
The total number of recoveries stood at 3,518,316 with a recovery rate of 96,3%. The country currently has 38,210 active cases.
22,830,172 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 30,936,372 as of 18 February.
Provincial breakdown
The majority of the new Covid-19 cases came from Gauteng (1,111), followed by Western Cape (518) and KwaZulu-Natal (354).
Mpumalanga (195) then follows, while North West and Free State recorded 174 and 148 new cases respectively.
Limpopo recorded 133 cases followed by Eastern Cape (112) and Northern Cape (55) had the lowest cases.
Global developments
Canada arrests trucker leaders
Canadian police begin arresting leaders of the trucker-led protest that has choked the capital’s streets for three weeks.
Hong Kong to test whole population
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says the city is planning to introduce mandatory testing for its entire population of more than 7.3 million, with its hospitals overwhelmed by spiralling cases.
New leader postponed
Hong Kong’s government postpones plans to pick the city’s new pro-Beijing leader as the financial hub struggles to tackle its worst-ever outbreak.
HK domestic workers ‘abandoned’
Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers are being “abandoned”, with some forced to sleep rough or being denied treatment after testing positive, charities say.
China bounties for carriers
Several Chinese cities are offering bounties worth tens of thousands of dollars for leads on smuggling rings that have brought the virus over the border from Hong Kong.
mRNA jabs for Africa
The World Health Organization chooses six African countries — Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia — for mRNA vaccine production plants, in a push to ensure the continent can make its own jabs to fight Covid.
New Zealand police rule out force
New Zealand police rule out forcibly clearing anti-vax protesters who have camped around parliament in Wellington for 11 days, saying they do not want to provoke violence on the streets of the capital.
Asia air travel to bounce back
Air travel is expected to pick up in Asia as more virus-hit countries lift border curbs, says planemaker Airbus. The region is expected to account for a bulk of aircraft demand in the next 20 years.
Over 5.8 million dead
Coronavirus has killed at least 5,860,577 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources on Friday.
The US has recorded the most Covid deaths with 931,741, followed by Brazil with 641,902 and India 510,905.
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
