RUSTENBURG: South Africa recorded 429 new Covid-19 infections on Monday, bringing the total number of laboratory confirmed cases to 2 906 851, an increase representing a 2.6% positivity rate.
The national Department of Health said a further 39 Covid-19-related deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 87 819 to date.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the majority of new cases on Monday were from the Western Cape, with 22%, followed by KwaZulu-Natal, with 21%.
Gauteng accounted for 19%, the Free State had 10%, Eastern Cape accounted for 9%, North West had 8%, Northern Cape accounted for 7%, Mpumalanga 3%, and Limpopo accounted for 2% of the new cases.
Hospital admissions increased by 52 in the past 24 hours, and 17 800 434 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors
“The total number of cases on Monday were lower than Sunday, and lower than the average number of new cases per day, over the seven preceding days. The seven-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased,” said National Institute for Communicable Diseases spokesperson Sinenhlanhla Jimoh.
The Presidency said more than 353 000 people were vaccinated against Covid-19 during the first Vooma Vaccination Weekend.
Vooma Vaccination Weekends aim to mobilise citizens and people living in South Africa, to get vaccinated as a means to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Vooma campaign was aimed at helping South Africa ensure that 70% of the population was vaccinated by the end of December.
“We can all be proud of the more than 350 000 people who seized this opportunity to get vaccinated during hours that were convenient for everyone.
“We would have liked this number to be higher, but this was a very good surge towards greater protection of our nation. I thank leaders, from all sectors of society, who successfully mobilised communities to protect themselves,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
“We also applaud our health-care workers, in the public and private sectors, who spent a big part of their weekend on the front-line, to administer life-saving vaccines to the nation.
“I hope the success of our first Vooma Vaccination Weekend will inspire unvaccinated people to step forward every day of the week, and during our Vooma weekends, to be vaccinated,” said Ramaphosa..
IOL