South Africa on Tuesday recorded 2 809 new COVID-19 cases, says the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

Representing a 12.6% positivity rate, the figure brought the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 957 777. In the reporting period, National Department of Health has confirmed 5 new COVID-19 related deaths.

“The cumulative COVID-19 deaths are 100 190 to date,” the NICD said in a statement.

The Institute said 25 264 922 tests had been conducted in both public and private sectors.

A provincial breakdown of the statistics reveals that the majority of new cases on Tuesday were from Gauteng (29%), followed by Western Cape (25%).

“KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 18%; Eastern Cape accounted for 11%; Free State accounted for 5%; Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 4% respectively; Northern Cape accounted for 3%; and Limpopo accounted for 2% of today’s new cases,” said the Institute.

However, it is lower than Wednesday’s 22.6%. The 7-day average is 23.3%, higher than the previous day’s 23.1%.

“The 7-day average is (24.7%) today, and is lower than yesterday (25.1%),” read the statement.

On hospital admissions, the Institute said there had been an increase of 150 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

The 12.6% proportion of positive new cases/total new tested was higher than Monday’s (9.4%). “The 7-day average is 12.7% today, and is lower than yesterday (13.1%),” said the NICD.

The Institute recorded an increase of 103 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

Source: South African Government News Agency