POLITICS

3 286 new Covid cases in SA – NICD

Institute says the test positivity rate has now dropped down to 8%

Latest confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA

18 September 2021

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.

The current surge in COVID-19 infections seems to be showing signs of a sustained downward trend. Today the institute reports 3 286 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 880 349. This increase represents a 8.0% positivity rate.

As per the National Department of Health, a further 164 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 86 116 to date.

17 321 958 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector

Total tested

New tested

Private

9 362 620

54%

18 201

44%

Public

7 959 338

46%

23 107

56%

Total

17 321 958

 

41 308

 

 

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (25%), followed by Eastern Cape (16%). Western Cape accounted for 15%; Free State accounted for 12%; Gauteng Province accounted for 11%; Northern Cape accounted for 8%; North West accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; 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 17 September 2021

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 17 September 2021

New cases on 18 September 2021

Total cases for 18 September 2021

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

286979

0

286979

526

287505

10,0

Free State

158426

0

158426

378

158804

5,5

Gauteng

913513

-19

913494

351

913845

31,7

KwaZulu-Natal

505567

0

505567

834

506401

17,6

Limpopo

121504

0

121504

37

121541

4,2

Mpumalanga

149590

6

149596

161

149757

5,2

North West

148123

11

148134

230

148364

5,2

Northern Cape

88054

1

88055

267

88322

3,1

Western Cape

505307

1

505308

502

505810

17,6

Total

2877063

0

2877063

3286

2880349

100,0

 

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The total number of cases today (n= 3 286) is lower than yesterday (n= 3 648) and lower than the average number of new cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n= 3 731). 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 101 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

196 675

36 077

4 174

Public

409

227 338

55 265

4 667

TOTAL

664

424 013

91 342

8 841

 

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.

Issued by Sinenhlanhla Jimoh, Senior Communications Manager, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, 18 September 2021