South Africa’s daily COVID-19 infections continue to drop amid the new variant concerns.
According to the latest statistics, the country recorded 1 744 new infections on Tuesday, which represents a 6% positivity rate.
A further 396 people lost their lives to the respiratory disease, bringing total fatalities to 46 869 to date.
Of the latest fatalities, 118 are from Limpopo, 85 from KwaZulu-Natal, 81 from Gauteng, 65 from the Western Cape, 20 from the Eastern Cape and 18 from Mpumalanga.
The Free State recorded six deaths, while three were recorded in the Northern Cape.
“We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased patients,” said Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize.
The number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 is now 1 367 247, representing a recovery rate of 92%.
The information is based on the 8 538 269 tests conducted, 26 859 of which were conducted in the last 24 hours.
Global view
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are now 106 125 682 global confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2 320 497 deaths.
WHO’s weekly epidemiological update states that the number of global new cases reported fell for the fourth week in a row, with 3.1 million new cases last week, a 17% decline compared to the previous week.
“This is the lowest figure since the week of 26 October 2020 (15 weeks ago). Although there are still many countries with increasing numbers of cases, at the global level, this is encouraging,” said WHO.
The number of additional deaths reported also fell for a second week in a row, with 88 000 new fatalities reported last week, a 10% decline compared to the previous week.
WHO has reported a dip in new cases in all regions, with five out of six regions reporting more than 10% decreases.
“Europe and the region of the Americas saw the greatest drops in absolute numbers, with together nearly 500 000 fewer new cases reported last week, 153 000 and 320 000 fewer new cases reported, respectively.”
Meanwhile, new deaths also declined in all regions except the Western Pacific, where mortality rates remained similar to the previous week.
In the past week, the five countries reporting the highest number of new cases continue to be the United States (871 365 cases, a 19% decrease), Brazil (328 652 cases, a 10% decrease), France (136 154 cases, a 4% decrease), the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (133 747 cases, a 25% decrease), and Russia (116 842 cases, an 11% decrease). – SAnews.gov.za
