Cape Town - Some 1 671 new Covid-19 infections were recorded in South Africa by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Friday.
“Today the institute reports 1 671 new Covid-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 691 962,” the NICD said in its daily report.
And 74% of the country’s new infections were identified in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
A total of 22 225 tests were conducted on Friday - the highest number of tests this week was recorded on Thursday (28 728).
A positivity rate of 7.5% is represented when the number of Friday’s new infections and total number of tests conducted are considered.
“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 28 deaths and of these, 6 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours,” the institute adds.
The newly recorded deaths bring South Africa closer to the 100 000 mark, as the country’s cumulative total of fatalities now reached 99 709.
In the last 24 hours hospital admissions increased by 44, as the number of current admissions decreased compared to Thursday.
Number of current admission per day:
- Monday: 2 482
- Tuesday: 2 478
- Wednesday: 2 486
- Thursday: 2 465
- Friday: 2 389
Meanwhile, the number of vaccines administered on Friday (90 176) decreased when compared to Thursday’s total (91 203). However, Gauteng continues to administer more vaccines than any other province on a daily basis.
Breakdown of SA’s new cases per province:
- Gauteng: 520
- Western Cape: 439
- KwaZulu-Natal: 292
- Mpumalanga: 90
- Free State: 85
- Limpopo: 82
- North West: 67
- Eastern Cape: 63
- Northern Cape:33
IOL