POLITICS

4 322 new Covid-19 cases in SA – NICD

Institute says positivity rate now down to 10.6%, with 162 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours

Latest confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA

20 January 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 4 322 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 568 900. This increase represents a 10.6% 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 156 deaths and of these, 36 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 93 707 to date.

21 895 771 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector

Total tested

New tested

Private

11,830,699

54%

22,624

55.7%

Public

10,065,072

46%

18,030

44.3%

Total

21,895,771

 

40,654

 

 

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng Province (24%), followed by Western Cape (23%). KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 16%; Limpopo accounted for 11%; Eastern Cape accounted for 8%; Free State, Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 5% respectively; and Northern Cape accounted for 4% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:

Province

Total cases for 18 January 2022

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 18 January 2022

New cases on 19 January 2022

Total cases for 19 January 2022

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

338739

0

338739

330

339069

9.5

Free State

194489

1

194490

196

194686

5.5

Gauteng

1156760

-30

1156730

1047

1157777

32.4

KwaZulu-Natal

636903

2

636905

706

637611

17.9

Limpopo

146294

2

146296

477

146773

4.1

Mpumalanga

181264

3

181267

196

181463

5.1

North West

183278

22

183300

223

183523

5.1

Northern Cape

105847

0

105847

165

106012

3.0

Western Cape

621004

0

621004

982

621986

17.4

Total

3564578

0

3564578

4322

3568900

100.0

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

The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 10.6% which is higher than yesterday (9.2%). The 7-day average is 11.4% today, which is lower than yesterday (12.1%). The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased.

IMAGE

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HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 162 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

223120

38629

2845

Public

407

268216

60835

4354

TOTAL

666

491336

99464

7199

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

For more information on COVID-19, click here.

Issued by NICD, 19 January 2022