Covid-19 in SA: 1,558 new infections on Friday

South Africa – Cape Town – 12 March, 2021 – Sister Megan Mains vaccinates healthcare worker Nokuthula Ngxishe at Gatesville Melomed vaccination centre in Athlone. File picture: Ayanda Ndamane AFrican News Agency (ANA)

South Africa – Cape Town – 12 March, 2021 – Sister Megan Mains vaccinates healthcare worker Nokuthula Ngxishe at Gatesville Melomed vaccination centre in Athlone. File picture: Ayanda Ndamane AFrican News Agency (ANA)

Published Mar 18, 2022

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Cape Town – South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has recorded 1,558 new Covid-19 infections on Friday, with six deaths in the past 24 to 48 hours.

“Today the institute reports 1,558 new Covid-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,702,042,” the NICD said in its daily report.

It said that 82 percent of the country’s new infections were identified in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

The number of tests conducted on Friday (29,331), slightly increased compared to Thursday’s total (29,181).

A 5.3 percent positivity rate is represented when the number of new infections and tests are taken into account.

“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 39 deaths and of these, six occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours,” the institute said.

The country’s hospital experienced an increase in admissions of 39 in the past 24 hours, however the number of current admissions on Friday (2,024) decreased from 2,060 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, 77,851 vaccines were administered across the country on Friday – the majority of which occurred in Gauteng (23 440), followed by the Western Cape (12,384) and KwaZulu-Natal (11,545).

  • Gauteng: 563
  • Western Cape: 439
  • KwaZulu-Natal: 281
  • Free State: 68
  • Mpumalanga: 56
  • Eastern Cape: 50
  • North West: 44
  • Limpopo: 35
  • Northern Cape: 22

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