COVID-19 Cases in South Africa Soar by 21 584

South Africa recorded 21 584 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

The Gauteng province accounts for the majority of new cases (59%), followed by the Western Cape (11%) and North West (7%) provinces.

Gauteng reported 12 806 cases while the Western Cape reported 2 447.

This as South Africa battles a third wave of COVID-19 infections.

“Today the institute reports 21 584 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 1 995 556. This increase represents a 28.4% positivity rate,” said the NICD.

A further 382 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 61 029 to date.

Also, 13 209 499 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

The institute said it has seen an increase of 769 hospital admissions that have been reported in the past 24 hours.

Acting Minister of Health, Mmamoloko Kubayi, and a panel of experts are this morning briefing media on the progress of government’s efforts in the fight against COVID-19, including an update on the national vaccination rollout programme.

The NICD, a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, said it will continue monitoring COVID-19 in order to inform the public health response. – SAnews.gov.za