15 September 2021
Statement

The current surge in COVID-19 infections seems to be showing signs of a sustained downward trend. Today the institute reports 4 667 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 869 201.  This increase represents a 9.6% positivity rate.

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.

As per the National Department of Health, a further 166 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 85 468 to date.

17 191 349 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector Total tested New tested
Private 9,305,730 54% 23,436 48%
Public 7,885,619 46% 25,309 52%
Total 17,191,349   48,745  

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Western Cape (25%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (23%). Eastern Cape accounted for 15%; Free State accounted for 11%; Gauteng Province accounted for 9%; Northern Cape accounted for 7%; North West accounted for 5%; Mpumalanga accounted for 4%; and Limpopo accounted for 1% of today’s new cases.

The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:

Province Total cases for 14 September 2021 Adjusted numbers after harmonisation Updated total cases on 14 September 2021 New cases on 15 September 2021 Total cases for 15 September 2021 Percentage total
Eastern Cape 284749 0 284749 718 285467 9.9
Free State 157036 4 157040 499 157539 5.5
Gauteng 912326 -11 912315 414 912729 31.8
KwaZulu-Natal 502959 0 502959 1058 504017 17.6
Limpopo 121355 0 121355 59 121414 4.2
Mpumalanga 148992 3 148995 186 149181 5.2
North West 147423 5 147428 250 147678 5.1
Northern Cape 87228 -8 87220 304 87524 3.1
Western Cape 502466 7 502473 1179 503652 17.6
Total 2864534 0 2864534 4667 2869201 100.0

 

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The total number of cases today (n= 4 667) is higher than yesterday (n= 3 699) and higher than the average number of new cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n= 4 633). The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased.

For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 270 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 255 196 072 35 915 4 519
Public 409 226 114 54 992 5 134
TOTAL 664 422 186 90 907 9 653

VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.

Thank you for your interest and remember that adhering to preventative measures limits your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19. For more information on COVID-19, click here.