A man stocks up on groceries at a supermarket in Lenasia, Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday March 17, 2020. For most people the virus causes only mild or moderate symptons. For others it can cause more severe illness. President Cyril Ramaphosa said all schools will be closed for 30 days from Wednesday and he banned all public gatherings of more than 100 people. South Africa will close 35 of its 53 land borders and will intensify screening at its international airports. For most people, the new COVID-19 coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/Shiraz Mohamed)
Durban - More than 8 515 people have been infected with the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed on Monday.
Johannesburg - More than 8 515 people have been infected with the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed on Monday.
This comes as 105 more people were confirmed to have died from coronavirus complications, according to the Department of Health.
The latest positive cases bring the number of Covid-19 cases to over 3.3 million since March last year.
The NICD said the positivity rate now stood at 29.9% as over 28 000 people tested for the virus in the same 24 hour cycle.
“The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, continues to provide laboratory-based surveillance to inform the public health response towards COVID-19 in South Africa.
“Today the institute reports 8,515 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,316,585. This increase represents a 29.9% positivity rate.
“As per the National Department of Health, a further 105 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 90,453 to date.
“20,719,331 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors,” said the NICD.
In terms of hospital admissions, 328 people were admitted to hospitals in the country.
Meanwhile, in terms of new cases, the KZN province had the most new infections again.
KZN - 29%
Gauteng - 22%
Western Cape - 19%
Eastern Cape - 8%
North West - 7%
Free State - 5%
Mpumalanga - 4%
Limpopo and Northern Cape - 3%
IOL