SA breaches three million Covid-19 cases since the first case was reported on March 5, 2020

Msawenkosi Gumede, 44, was in the first group of people who were tested for Covid-19 in uMlazi township.The test was done by sister Nomusa Mthethwa from uMlazi clinic. File Picture: Zanele Zulu/African News Agency (ANA)

Msawenkosi Gumede, 44, was in the first group of people who were tested for Covid-19 in uMlazi township.The test was done by sister Nomusa Mthethwa from uMlazi clinic. File Picture: Zanele Zulu/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Jan 3, 2022

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South Africa has breached the three million mark for Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

In the latest statistics from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), there were over 4 300 new cases, a significantly lower number of positive tests compared to the 11 000 that tested positive on January 1.

KwaZulu-Natal has the third highest number of new infections.

“The majority of new cases today (Sunday) are from the Western Cape (27%), followed by Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal each accounting for 21%. The Eastern Cape accounted for 11%; Free State and Mpumalanga each accounted for 5%; Northern Cape accounted for 4%; Limpopo and North accounted for 3% of today’s (Sunday) new cases. These cases represent a 23.1% positivity rate, nationally.

“As per the National Department of Health, a further 30 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 91 228 to date,” said the NICD.

The private hospital sector still leads in the number of tests being conducted compared to public hospitals.

The NICD said 21 286 849 tests have been conducted in both the public and private sectors. Of the 18 970 new tests conducted, 63% were in the private sector, whilst 36% were done in public institutions.

To date, more than 27 million vaccines have been administered, nationally. KZN is also third province with the highest number of jabs.

According to the NICD, just over 15 million are fully vaccinated.

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