POLITICS

1 456 new Covid cases in SA – NICD

NDoH reports 50 deaths and of these, 1 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours

Latest confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA

20 February 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 1,456 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,658,547. This increase represents a 7.2% 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 50 deaths and of these, 1 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 98,667 to date.

22,880,879 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector

Total tested

New tested

Private

12,411,014

54.2%

13,254

65.3%

Public

10,469,865

45.8%

7,034

34.7%

Total

22,880,879

100.0%

20,288

100.0%

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (39%), followed by Western Cape (20%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 12%; North West accounted for 9%; Mpumalanga accounted for 7%; Free State accounted for 5%; Eastern Cape and Limpopo each accounted for 3% respectively; and Northern Cape accounted for 2% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:

Province

Total cases for 19 Feb 2022

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 19 Feb 2022

New cases on 20 Feb 2022

Total cases for

20 Feb 2022

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

342,824

0

342,824

49

342,873

9.4

Free State

199,800

0

199,800

78

199,878

5.5

Gauteng

1,186,517

0

1,186,517

562

1,187,079

32.4

KwaZulu-Natal

649,479

0

649,479

170

649,649

17.8

Limpopo

154,118

0

154,118

38

154,156

4.2

Mpumalanga

190,014

0

190,014

102

190,116

5.2

North West

189,712

0

189,712

137

189,849

5.2

Northern Cape

108,028

0

108,028

35

108,063

3.0

Western Cape

636,599

0

636,599

285

636,884

17.4

Total

3,657,091

0

3,657,091

1,456

3,658,547

100.0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 7.2%, which is lower than yesterday (7.5%). The 7-day average is 8.0% today, which is lower than yesterday (8.1%).

For detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 17 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

228,759

39,081

1,486

Public

407

275,671

61,911

1,770

TOTAL

666

504,430

100,992

3,256

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, 20 February 2022