LATEST CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19 IN SOUTH AFRICA (24 February 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 2,411 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,667,560. This increase represents a 7.8% 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 40 deaths and of these, 7 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99,018 to date.
 
22,994,945 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
 

Sector

Total tested

New tested

Private

12,477,927

54.3%

19,015

61.7%

Public

10,517,018

45.7%

11,803

38.3%

Total

22,994,945

100.0%

30,818

100.0%

 
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (36%), followed by Western Cape (20%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 18%; Mpumalanga accounted for 8% and Free State accounted for 6%. Northern Cape accounted for 5%; Eastern Cape accounted for 4%; Limpopo accounted for 3%; and North West accounted for 2% of today’s new cases.

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

Province

Total cases for 23 February 2022

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 23 February 2022

New cases on 24 February 2022

Total cases for 24 February 2022

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

343,115

0

343,115

85

343,200

9.4

Free State

200,199

0

200,199

133

200,332

5.5

Gauteng

1,189,546

0

1,189,546

874

1,190,420

32.5

KwaZulu-Natal

650,562

0

650,562

427

650,989

17.7

Limpopo

154,362

0

154,362

69

154,431

4.2

Mpumalanga

190,644

0

190,644

185

190,829

5.2

North West

190,471

0

190,471

115

190,586

5.2

Northern Cape

108,154

0

108,154

43

108,197

3.0

Western Cape

638,096

0

638,096

480

638,576

17.4

Total

3,665,149

0

3,665,149

2,411

3,667,560

100.0

 
 
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
 
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 7.8%, which is lower than yesterday (8.7%).
The 7-day average is 7.7% today, which is lower than yesterday (7.9%)


 
For detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS

There has been an increase of 82 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

229,202

39,100

1,491

Public

407

276,433

61,896

1,584

TOTAL

666

505,635

100,996

3,075

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.