Cape Town – A total of 2 383 new Covid-19 cases have been identified in South Africa, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 1 637 848.
There were 72 more Covid-19-related deaths, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Monday evening: Free State 21, Limpopo 13, Western Cape 13, Gauteng 7, Eastern Cape 6, Mpumalanga 6 and Northern Cape 6. No deaths were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal and North West.
The total number of Covid-19 deaths stand at 55 874, with the cumulative recoveries at 1 541 250, representing a recovery rate of 94.1%.
On Sunday, a total of 2 894 new Covid-19 cases were reported, with 30 deaths.
The total vaccinated under the Sisonke Programme is 479 768. These vaccinations were with the one-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine and are therefore completed vaccinations.
The total vaccinated in Phase 2 as at midnight is 171 860. These vaccinations were with the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
The Gauteng health department has increased the number of its Covid-19 vaccination sites from 28 to 63 sites in an effort to ramp up its rollout efforts.
The department said the extra sites would ensure that more people who were 60 and older would get vaccinated.
The sites are spread across the five regions of the province: Johannesburg (18), Tshwane (14), Ekurhuleni (14), West Rand (10) and Sedibeng (7).
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says the province is seeing a resurgence in Covid-19 infections and may experience a third wave in two to three weeks' time.
Winde said the province has enough beds should hospital admissions rise in the projected time.
“I can confirm that the Western Cape has sufficient bed capacity to respond to the resurgence in Covid-19 cases and, through previous investments during this pandemic, can bring online additional bed capacity where and when needed,” said Winde.
Meanwhile, Israel will end local Covid-19 restrictions following a successful vaccine rollout that has nearly stamped out new infections, the country's Health Ministry said on Sunday.
With the majority of the population having received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and about 92% of those 50 and older inoculated or recovered, Israel has been gradually reopening its economy after three lockdowns.
The country reported just 12 new virus cases on Saturday, down from a daily peak of more than 10 000 in January.
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