POLITICS

1497 new Covid cases in SA – NICD

NDoH reports 26 deaths and of these, 2 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours

Latest confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA

26 March 2022

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, continues to provide laboratory-based surveillance to inform the public health response towards COVID-19 in South Africa.

Today the institute reports 1 497 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 712 263. This increase represents a 5.7% positivity rate.

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 26 deaths and of these, 2 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99 965 to date.

23 727 513 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector

Total tested

New tested

Private

12,898,512

54.4%

15,540

58.8%

Public

10,829,001

45.6%

10,909

41.2%

Total

23,727,513

100.0%

26,449

100.0%

 PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng Province (39%), followed by Western Cape (27%). KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 20%; Eastern Cape, Free State and North West each accounted for 3% respectively; Mpumalanga accounted for 2%; and Limpopo and Northern Cape each accounted for 1% respectively of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:

Province

Total cases for 25 March 2022

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 25 March 2022

Incident infections for 26 March 2022

Possible reinfections for 26 March 2022

New cases on 26 March 2022

Total cases for 26 March 2022

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

344796

0

344796

40

9

49

344845

9.3

Free State

202141

0

202141

37

5

42

202183

5.4

Gauteng

1206002

2

1206004

507

83

590

1206594

32.5

KwaZulu-Natal

658735

0

658735

265

29

294

659029

17.8

Limpopo

155665

2

155667

18

4

22

155689

4.2

Mpumalanga

192996

0

192996

26

2

28

193024

5.2

North West

192764

-4

192760

38

5

43

192803

5.2

Northern Cape

108818

0

108818

18

1

19

108837

2.9

Western Cape

648849

0

648849

353

57

410

649259

17.5

Total

3710766

0

3710766

1302

195

1497

3712263

100.0

 THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE

The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 5.7%, which is lower than yesterday (6.2%). The 7-day average is 5.7% today, which is higher than yesterday (5.6%). The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased.

For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 15 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.

Sector

Facilities Reporting

Admissions
to Date

Died to Date

Currently Admitted

Private

259

232166

39377

802

Public

407

278857

62175

1163

TOTAL

666

511023

101552

1965

 VACCINE UPDATE

For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.

Thank you for your interest and remember that adhering to the following preventative measures helps to limit your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.

Getting vaccinated for COVID-19

Wearing your mask properly to cover your nose

Opting to gather in ventilated spaces

Avoid unnecessary gatherings

Keeping a social distance of one meter or more

Washing your hands regularly in the day with soap and water

Issued by NICD, 26 March 2022