POLITICS

566 new Covid cases in SA - NICD

NDoH reports 9 deaths and of these, 4 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours

Latest confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA

21 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 566 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 704 784. This increase represents a 3.9% 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 9 deaths and of these, 4 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99,890 to date.

23 599 964 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector

Total tested

New tested

Private

12,828,198

54.4%

8,549

59.4%

Public

10,771,766

45.6%

5,854

40.6%

Total

23,599,964

100.0%

14,403

100.0%

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng Province (41%), followed by Western Cape (25%). KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 21%; North West accounted for 4%; Mpumalanga accounted for 3%; Eastern Cape & Free State each accounted for 2% respectively; and Limpopo & 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 20 March 2022

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 20 March 2022

Incident infections for 21 March 2022

Possible reinfections for 21 March 2022

New cases on 21 March 2022

Total cases for 21 March 2022

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

344496

0

344496

8

2

10

344506

9.3

Free State

201942

0

201942

9

1

10

201952

5.5

Gauteng

1203737

0

1203737

202

31

233

1203970

32.5

KwaZulu-Natal

657437

0

657437

103

14

117

657554

17.7

Limpopo

155506

0

155506

6

0

6

155512

4.2

Mpumalanga

192781

0

192781

17

2

19

192800

5.2

North West

192431

0

192431

21

3

24

192455

5.2

Northern Cape

108757

0

108757

6

1

7

108764

2.9

Western Cape

647131

0

647131

123

17

140

647271

17.5

Total

3704218

0

3704218

495

71

566

3704784

100.0

 

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

The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 3.9%, which is lower than yesterday (5.4%). The 7-day average is 5.6% today, which is higher than yesterday (5.5%). 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 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

231671

39349

798

Public

407

278510

62132

1212

TOTAL

666

510181

101481

2010

 

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, 21 March 2022