Sharp rise in new Covid-19 cases in SA
SOUTH Africa has recorded 16,240 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 516 deaths, bringing the death toll to 68,192 on Wednesday.
With the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases now standing at 2,327,472, this increase represents a 27.5% positivity rate, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said in a statement.
A total of 14,369,234 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.
The majority of new cases on Wednesday are from Gauteng (32%), followed by the Western Cape (21%). KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 11%; Limpopo and North West for 9% each; Mpumalanga for 7%; Eastern Cape for 5%; Free State for 3%; and the Northern Cape for 2%.
The total number of cases on Wednesday (16 240) is much higher than Tuesday (8 929) and higher than the average number of new cases per day over the seven preceding days.
There has also been an increase of 831 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 59,068 tests were conducted in the last 24 hrs, with 16,240 new cases, which represents a 27.5% positivity rate. A further 516 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 68,192 to date. Read more: https://t.co/8SkkBCUySC pic.twitter.com/Xa2QNoNEdK
— NICD (@nicd_sa) July 21, 2021
Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola has meanwhile dismissed claims that prisoners are receiving preferential treatment in the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out programme.
The minister told Jacaranda FM: “With regards to those who are criticising us and claiming we are giving preference to inmates above society, that criticism is unfounded. Older inmates were vaccinated when the population 60 years and above received their jabs. When it was 50 years and above, they participated with everyone in society, so there was no preference. The reality is we are going to go further than that with the Health Department so we are able to reach herd immunity.”