South Africa has recorded 19 506 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases to 1 973 972.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the increase represents a 27.6% positivity rate.
Gauteng remains the epicentre, accounting for the majority of new cases (57%), followed by the Western Cape (11%) and North West (7%) provinces.
Meanwhile, a further 383 COVID-19 related fatalities have been reported, pushing the death toll to 60 647.
“An increase of 698 hospital admissions have been reported in the past 24 hours,” the institution said, adding that there are now 12 893 people who are currently in hospital.
The information is based on the 13 133 428 tests conducted in both public and private sectors, of which 70 593 were performed on Wednesday.
In addition, South Africa managed to vaccinate 120 172 people the previous day.
This means there are now 3 026 636 people who have received either the Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the country.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 181 521 067 confirmed global cases of COVID-19, 3 937 437 deaths, and 2 915 585 482 administered vaccine doses. – SAnews.gov.za
