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Over the last 24 hours, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has reported at least 5 920 new COVID-19 infections in South Africa.
This translates to a positivity rate of 14.3%, which is lower than the previous reporting cycle’s 15.5%.
According to the NICD, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng provinces continue to report most new cases.
- Western Cape – 1491
- Gauteng – 1198
- KwaZulu-Natal – 1142
- Eastern Cape – 559
- Limpopo – 524
- North West – 293
- Mpumalanga – 278
- Free State – 218
- Northern Cape – 217
According to the institute, the number of deaths associated with infections is currently being audited.
“Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported.”
On Thursday evening, 13 January 2022, the NDoH reported 159 deaths. Of these, 51 deaths occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours. This brings the total number of fatalities to 92,989 so far.
Furthermore, the NICD notes there has been an increase of 293 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
On a positive note, Health Minister Joe Phaahla says the Gauteng province has officially exited the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rest of South Africa’s provinces have already reached their peak and are steadily declining.
“Of note is that the decline in new infections is not a steep decline as was the incline. So, this virus rises steeply but when it goes down. It goes down slowly, but at least it’s going down and this is encouraging. We must emphasise that the fourth wave is showing unequivocally the protection of vaccination against severe illness and death.”
Health Minister Joe Phaahla
Key statistics highlighted by the Minister during the briefing include:
- A 13.9% reduction in the number of new cases compared to last year, dropping from 54 191 new cases in 2021 to at least 46 680 this year.
- There has been a 4.8% reduction in fatalities related to COVID-19 over the last seven days.
- As of Thursday, there was a 27% reduction in new cases compared to the week before.
- There has been a 6.3% reduction in hospitalisations over the past week.
- The positivity rate has gone down from 30% in December to 14% as of Thursday, 13 January 2022.
Despite the good news, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, gazetted the extension of the National State of Disaster on Covid-19 until 15 February 2022.
The extension considers the need to continue augmenting the existing legislation and contingency arrangements undertaken by organs of state. As well as all other role players to mitigate against the impact of the disaster on lives and livelihoods.
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