POLITICS

3 699 new cases of Covid in SA – NICD

Test positivity rate at 9.7%, NDoH reports 89 deaths, 7 in the past 24 – 48 hours

Latest confirmed cases of Covid in SA

17 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 3,699 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,648,968. This increase represents a 9.7% 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 89 deaths and of these, 7 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 97,520 to date.

22,762,117 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector

Total tested

New tested

Private

12,343,731

54.2%

21,398

56.1%

Public

10,418,386

45.8%

16,735

43.9%

Total

22,762,117

100.0%

38,133

100.0%

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (36%), followed by Western Cape (17%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 12%; Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 9% respectively; Free State accounted for 6%; Limpopo accounted for 5%; Eastern Cape accounted for 4%; 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 15 Feb 2022

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 15 Feb 2022

New cases on 16 Feb 2022

Total cases for

16 Feb 2022

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

342,377

0

342,377

143

342,520

9.4

Free State

199,134

0

199,134

237

199,371

5.5

Gauteng

1,182,100

2

1,182,102

1,328

1,183,430

32.4

KwaZulu-Natal

647,982

0

647,982

458

648,440

17.8

Limpopo

153,631

0

153,631

176

153,807

4.2

Mpumalanga

189,022

-3

189,019

317

189,336

5.2

North West

188,745

1

188,746

338

189,084

5.2

Northern Cape

107,819

0

107,819

66

107,885

3.0

Western Cape

634,459

0

634,459

636

635,095

17.4

Total

3,645,269

0

3,645,269

3,699

3,648,968

100.0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 9.7%, which is higher than yesterday (7.7%). The 7-day average is 8.2% today, which is higher than yesterday (8.1%).

For detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 78 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

228,501

39,047

1,872

Public

407

275,159

61,840

1,842

TOTAL

666

503,660

100,887

3,714

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, 16 February 2022