POLITICS

619 new Covid-19 cases reported in SA – NICD

Institute says the test positivity rate is now down to 2.2%

Latest confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA

16 October 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.

Today the institute reports 619 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,916,179. This increase represents a 2.2% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 25 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 88,587 to date.

18,151,283 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector

Total tested

New tested

PRIVATE

9,780,240

54%

14,580

51%

PUBLIC

8,371,043

46%

14,005

49%

Total

18,151,283

28,585

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from Western Cape (21%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal accounting for 19%. Gauteng accounted for 15%; Eastern Cape and Free State each accounted for 11% respectively; Northern Cape accounted for 9%; North West accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; and Limpopo accounted for 3% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:

Province

Total cases for 15 Oct 2021

Adjusted numbers after harmonisation

Updated total cases on 15 Oct 2021

New cases on 16 Oct 2021

Total cases for 16 Oct 2021

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

291,868

0

291,868

67

291,935

10,0

Free State

162,702

0

162,702

65

162,767

5,6

Gauteng

918,318

0

918,318

93

918,411

31,5

KwaZulu-Natal

514,399

0

514,399

116

514,515

17,6

Limpopo

122,100

0

122,100

20

122,120

4,2

Mpumalanga

151,550

0

151,550

34

151,584

5,2

North West

150,217

0

150,217

42

150,259

5,2

Northern Cape

91,902

0

91,902

53

91,955

3,2

Western Cape

512,504

0

512,504

129

512,633

17,6

Unknown

0

0

0

0

0

0,0

Total

2,915,560

0

2,915,560

619

2,916,179

100,0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The total number of cases today (n= 619) is lower than yesterday (n= 733) and lower than the average number of cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n= 669).

For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 34 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

258

200,167

36,920

2,948

Public

408

232,646

56,694

2,095

TOTAL

666

432,813

93,614

5,043

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.

Issued by Sinenhlanhla Jimoh, Senior Communications Manager, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, 17 October 2021