South Africa detected 8 881 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest daily spike since 23 January, when the country recorded 12 271 infections.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the majority of new infections are from Gauteng, which accounts for 58%, followed by the Western Cape with 9%.  

The latest data show that the positivity rate now stands at 16.5%.

“This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 1 712 7550 (since the outbreak),” the institution said.

To date, 11 985 750 tests have been conducted, 53 732 of which were performed in the last 24 hours.

“The increasing number of tests and cases, and the increased positivity rate are all evidence of the predicted third surge in COVID-19 cases, and not artefacts of data loading or increased laboratory turnaround times,” the NICD explained.

Hospital admissions have also risen to 1 150, the highest increase being in Gauteng, with 587 newly admitted patients, pushing the nationwide total to 7 194.  

The public health institute also reported that there are 135 additional in-hospital deaths, which brings the tally to 57 347.

In addition, 1 524 589 people have been vaccinated in South Africa, with 1 043 278 having received their first dose of the Pfizer jab.

Globally, as of 9 June 2021, there have been 173 674 509 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 3 744 408 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Meanwhile, 2 092 863 229 vaccines have been administered as of 8 June 2021.

Source: South African Government News Agency