Cape Town – After recording more than 20 000 new Covid-19 cases from last Wednesday to Saturday, the number of new infections continues to drop in South Africa.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement on Tuesday 13 105 new cases have been identified since the last report. A total of 15 046 new cases were reported yesterday and 17 421 on Sunday, after a peak of 21 862 on Friday.
The cumulative total of Covid-19 cases identified in South Africa is 1 259 748. A total of 7 287 060 tests have been completed, with 50 671 tests conducted since the last report.
After 416 deaths were reported on Monday, a further 755 people have died due to Covid-19-related causes: Eastern Cape 134, Free State 26, Gauteng 225, KwaZulu-Natal 218, Limpopo 11, Mpumalanga 11, Northern Cape 2 and Western Cape 128. This brings the total number of deaths to 34 334.
The number of recoveries now stand at 1 019 123, representing a recovery rate of 81%.
Meanwhile, about 100 000 healthcare workers in the Western Cape are set to be vaccinated against Covid-19 as provincial authorities gear themselves up for the huge vaccination programme.
The head of health in the province, Dr Keith Cloete, said on Tuesday that healthcare workers in the public and private sectors, including students, community health workers and people working in healthcare centres and the military, will be prioritised in the first phase.
The second phase will also target essential workers, including police, teachers, municipal workers and other vulnerable people, including those who live in crowded communities and the elderly.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura said on Tuesday the number of people in the province who died due to Covid-19 complications skyrocketed between the last week of December and the first week of January.
He said he was particularly concerned about the fatality rate.
“Our overall fatality rate is less than 2% – at 1.8% in Gauteng. When we do a comparison per week, we see the number of people succumbing to Covid-19 is increasing quite significantly.
’’In the last week of December, it increased by 123% (from the week before). In the week that follows that, leading up to early January, it increased by 155%. As we speak, it has increased by 10%,” he said.
IOL