LATEST CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19 IN SOUTH AFRICA (15 January 2022)

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 4,592 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,556,633. This increase represents a 12.5% % positivity rate.
 
Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported. Today, the NDoH reports 161 deaths and of these, 64 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 93,278 to date.

 21,772,893 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
 

Sector

Total tested

New tested

Private

11,757,204

54.0%

19,132

52.3%

Public

10,015,689

46.0%

17,461

47.7%

Total

21,772,893

100.0%

36,593

100.0%

 
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from Western Cape (26%), followed by Gauteng and Kwa-Zulu Natal (21% each). Eastern Cape accounted for 10%; Limpopo accounted for 6%; Free State, Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 4% respectively; and Northern Cape accounted for 3% of today’s new cases
The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:
 

Province

Total cases for 14 January 2022

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 14 January 2022

New cases on 15 January 2022

Total cases for 15 January 2022

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

337,666

9

337,675

479

338,154

9.5

Free State

193,948

-9

193,939

187

194,126

5.5

Gauteng

1,153,915

14

1,153,929

977

1,154,906

32.5

KwaZulu-Natal

634,347

-18

634,329

944

635,273

17.9

Limpopo

145,455

-4

145,451

293

145,744

4.1

Mpumalanga

180,581

-1

180,580

170

180,750

5.1

North West

182,658

7

182,665

201

182,866

5.1

Northern Cape

105,448

-6

105,442

156

105,598

3.0

Western Cape

618,025

6

618,031

1,185

619,216

17.4

Total

3,552,043

-2

3,552,041

4,592

3,556,633

100.0

 
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE

The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 12.5% which is lower than yesterday (13.0%). The 7-day average is 14.4% today, which is lower than yesterday (15.4%).

 
For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS

There has been an increase of 73 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.
 

Sector

Facilities Reporting

Admissions
to Date

Died to Date

Currently Admitted

Private

259

222,088

38,517

3,092

Public

407

266,414

60,467

4,994

TOTAL

666

488,502

98,984

8,086

VACCINE UPDATE

For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.

Thank you for your interest and remember that adhering to the following preventative measures helps to limit your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.

  • Getting vaccinated for COVID-19
  • Wearing your mask properly to cover your nose
  • Opting to gather in ventilated spaces
  • Avoid unnecessary gatherings
  • Keeping a social distance of one meter or more
  • Washing your hands regularly in the day with soap and water

 
For more information on COVID-19, click here