POLITICS

2 197 new Covid cases in SA – NICD

Institute says positivity rate is now down to 6.1%

Latest confirmed cases of Covid in SA

21 September 2021

The current surge in COVID-19 infections seems to be showing signs of a sustained downward trend. Today the institute reports 2,197 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,886,331. This increase represents a 6.1% positivity rate.

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.

As per the National Department of Health, a further 160 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 86,376 to date. 17,410,204 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector

Total tested

New tested

PRIVATE

9 405 141

54%

18 288

51%

PUBLIC

8 005 063

46%

17 531

49%

Total

17 410 204

35 819

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (27%), followed by Western Cape (17%). Eastern Cape accounted for 15%; Free State accounted for 14%; Gauteng Province accounted for 12%; Mpumalanga and Northern Cape each accounted for 6% respectively; North West accounted for 4%; and Limpopo accounted for 1% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:

Province

Total cases for 20 Sept 2021

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 20 Sept 2021

New cases on 21 Sept 2021

Total cases for 21 Sept 2021

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

288,001

1

288,002

329

288,331

10,0

Free State

159,228

6

159,234

297

159,531

5,5

Gauteng

914,196

3

914,199

256

914,455

31,7

KwaZulu-Natal

507,310

12

507,322

594

507,916

17,6

Limpopo

121,580

1

121,581

28

121,609

4,2

Mpumalanga

149,948

5

149,953

122

150,075

5,2

North West

148,548

-34

148,514

83

148,597

5,1

Northern Cape

88,961

0

88,961

122

89,083

3,1

Western Cape

506,362

6

506,368

366

506,734

17,6

Unknown

0

0

0

0

0

0,0

Total

2,884,134

0

2,884,134

2,197

2,886,331

100,0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The total number of cases today (n= 2 197) is higher than yesterday (n= 1 504) but lower than the average number of new cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n= 3 114). 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 175 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

255

197,738

36,321

3,929

Public

409

228,217

55,535

4,221

TOTAL

664

425,955

91,856

8,150

VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.

Thank you for your interest and remember that adhering to preventative measures limits your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19. For more information on COVID-19, click here.

Issued by Sinenhlanhla Jimoh, Senior Communications Manager, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, 21 September 2021