Cape Town - South Africa has recorded 1 742 new Covid-19 cases and 396 new deaths in the past 24 hours, the national Department of Health said on Tuesday.
This takes the total number of cases in the country to 1479 253 with a cumulative death toll of 46 896.
Regrettably, a further 396 Covid-19 related deaths were reported: Eastern Cape 20, Free State 6, Gauteng 81, KwaZulu-Natal 85, Limpopo 118, Mpumalanga 18, Northern Cape 3 and Western Cape 65 which brings the total to 46 869 deaths.
Case data
To date, 8 538 269 have been conducted with 26 859 new tests conducted in the past 24 hours.
The total number of patients who have recovered from the disease stands at 1 367 247. The current recovery rate is 92%.
Covid-19 vaccine: Johnson & Johnson applies for emergency authorisation from Sahpra
SA lead investigator for the Johnson & Johnson trial, Professor Glenda Gray, said that the country's regulator was processing an application for the vaccine to be granted emergency authorisation against Covid-19.
Addressing a webinar on vaccines, Gray said they were in discussions with regulatory authorities to roll out the single-dose vaccine to health workers, after the government earlier this week temporarily halted the roll out of the AstraZeneca vaccine over efficacy concerns.
Earlier on Tuesday, South Africa was looking at ways to deploy AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine after temporarily putting on hold plans to roll it out to healthcare workers, government advisers said on Tuesday.
The government had planned to start rolling out one million doses of the AstraZeneca shot later this month, but trial data published after they had arrived showed the vaccine offered minimal protection against mild-to-moderate disease caused by the country's dominant coronavirus variant.
South Africa now plans to start its vaccination programme with Johnson & Johnson shots in mid-February, after the US company promised to expedite deliveries.