Cape Town – A total of 2 327 new Covid-19-related cases were identified in South Africa yesterday, seven more than on Wednesday.
This brought the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases to 1 498 766, Health Minister Zweli MKhize said in a statement on Thursday.
A total of 230 more deaths have been reported: Limpopo 122, KwaZulu-Natal 27, Eastern Cape 24, Gauteng 21, Western Cape 19, Mpumalanga 10 and Free State 7. No fatalities were reported in North West and the Northern Cape.
The total number of deaths now stand at 48 708. The number of recoveries has risen to 1 403 214, representing a recovery rate of 93.6%.
The cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 8 807 299, with 34 556 new tests recorded since the last report.
South Africans have widely adopted face masks to counter the threat of Covid-19 but are slipping on social distancing and hand washing.
This is according to the latest National Income Dynamics Study — Coronavirus Rapid Mobile survey (Nids-Cram)
Reported mask wearing has increased for all groups over time, irrespective of Covid-19 beliefs, the survey shows.
In July-August, 74% of respondents reported mask wearing, increasing to 78% in November-December.
Hand washing, however, decreased over the same period from 60% in July-August to 53% in November-December, and physical distancing also decreased.
In the latest survey, fewer respondents think they will get Covid-19 and more now believe they can avoid getting it.
Meanwhile, only 55% of black people in England aged between 70 to 79 had been vaccinated against Covid-19 by February 11, compared to 86% of white people in this age group, according to early research on England's coronavirus vaccination programme.
Among people from South Asian backgrounds the figure stood at 73 percent, according to a study by OpenSafely, run by the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
These ethnic groups have been particularly hard hit by Covid-19 with a disproportionate number of deaths. Government advisers have said that factors such as living circumstances and profession are driving the increased risk.
IOL