LATEST CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19 IN SOUTH AFRICA (26 May 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 3 801 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 944 845. This increase represents an 14.9% 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 49 deaths, and of these, 16 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 101,092 to date.

25 164 138 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector Total tested New tested
Private 13,724,711 54.5% 13,787 54.1%
Public 11,439,427 45.5% 11,713 45.9%
Total 25,164,138 100.0% 25,500 100.0%

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (34%) followed by Western Cape (24%). KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 15%; EC accounted for 10%; Free State accounted for 6%; Northern Cape accounted for 4%; Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 3% respectively; and Limpopo accounted for 1% of today’s cases. The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:

Province Total cases for 25 May 2022 Adjusted numbers after harmonisation Updated total cases on 25 May 2022 Incident infections for 26 May 2022 Possible reinfections for 26 May 2022 New cases on 26 May 2022 Total cases for 26 May 2022 Percentage total
Eastern Cape 358931 5 358936 328 47 375 359311 9.1
Free State 212817 2 212819 178 40 218 213037 5.4
Gauteng 1302662 1 1302663 1087 190 1277 1303940 33.1
KwaZulu-Natal 708329 -10 708319 492 77 569 708888 18.0
Limpopo 158091 0 158091 40 3 43 158134 4.0
Mpumalanga 199289 0 199289 107 22 129 199418 5.1
North West 199190 0 199190 106 11 117 199307 5.1
Northern Cape 113350 0 113350 119 28 147 113497 2.9
Western Cape 688386 1 688387 768 158 926 689313 17.5
Total 3941045 -1 3941044 3225 576 3801 3944845 100.0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is (14.9%), and is lower than yesterday (17.3%). The 7-day average is (16.9%) today, and is lower than yesterday (18.3%). 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 112 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 262 245329 40176 1513
Public 408 286023 62790 1689
TOTAL 670 531352 102966 3202

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.