SA records 2,320 new Covid-19 cases, as positivity rate remains low

As SA began the first phase of its Covid-19 vaccination programme, health authorities would have also been buoyed by another day where new infections and the positivity rate remained low.

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize confirmed on Wednesday night that 2,320 new cases were recorded in 24 hours. These were from 35,413 tests, at a positivity rate of 6.55% — again well below the 10%-12% range that Mkhize has previously cited as being of concern.

The new infections take the country's cumulative tally of Covid-19 cases to 1,496,439. To date, 8,772,743 tests have been conducted.

Mkhize said 165 new Covid-19 related deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours. Of these, 76 were in Gauteng, 25 in the Western Cape, 22 in the Free State, 15 in the Eastern Cape, 14 in KwaZulu-Natal, nine in the Northern Cape and four in Mpumalanga. There were no deaths recorded in Limpopo or the North West.

The latest fatalities mean that 48,478 confirmed Covid-19 related deaths have been recorded.

To date, 1,399,829 recoveries have been recorded at a recovery rate of 93.5%.

TimesLIVE

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