16 June 2021

Statement

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, observed 13,246 daily new cases in the last 24 hours and the percent testing positive (i.e. the number of positive results out of the total daily tests) increased to 21.7% nationally. These concerning figures represent the highest number of daily cases and positivity rate recorded since January 2021. The total number of laboratory-confirmed cases increased to 1,774,312. For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

12,331,837 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below:

Sector Total tested   New tested  
Private 6,955,141 56% 39,413 65%
Public 5,376,696 44% 21,582 35%
Total 12,331,837   60,995  

 

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The Northern Cape, Free State, North West and Gauteng Provinces are officially in a third wave, with the remaining five provinces seeing sustained increases in the number of cases.  The majority of cases reported today are once again from Gauteng (59.3%). The cumulative number of cases by province is shown below:

Province New cases on 16 June 2021 Total cases for 16 June 2021 Percentage total
Eastern Cape 497 201,014 11.3
Free State 617 108,515 6.1
Gauteng 7,859 5,22,366 29.4
KwaZulu-Natal 592 344,651 19.4
Limpopo 390 68,117 3.8
Mpumalanga 546 86,718 4.9
North West 917 83,799 4.7
Northern Cape 426 55,536 3.1
Western Cape 1,402 303,596 17.1
Total 13,246 1,774,312 100.0

 

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS

An increase of 940 hospital admissions and 77 in-hospital deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours.

A summary of reported COVID-19 hospital admissions is shown below:

Sector Facilities Reporting Admissionsto Date Died to Date Currently Admitted
Private 256 134,582 21,831 5,912
Public 397 152,285 36,287 2,815
TOTAL 653 286,867 58,118 8,727

 PREVENTATIVE MEASURES ARE KEY

Citizens should remain vigilant in following COVID-19 preventative measures by wearing a mask that covers both the nose and mouth, practicing healthy hand hygiene (through washing and/or sanitising), maintaining physical distancing of at least 1.5m and limiting social interactions as much as possible. For those who are 60 years or older, please register on EVDS to get the vaccine. Younger generations are also encouraged to help pensioners register for their vaccine. For more information on COVID-19, click here.

For more information, contact: sinenhlanhlaj@nicd.ac.za