South Africa has logged 381 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Wednesday.

Gauteng remains the hardest-hit province after 135 were confirmed to have contracted the virus, followed by 106 in the Western Cape, 48 in KwaZulu-Natal and 24 each in Mpumalanga and the North West. This is while the rest of the provinces reported less than 20 cases.

According to the latest data, this means South Africa has 4 003 883 laboratory-confirmed cases since the outbreak.

Meanwhile, data shows that the death toll now stands at 101 976 after five more people lost their lives to COVID-19, of which three occurred in the past 48 hours.

“There has been an increase of eight hospital admissions in the past 24 hours,” the NICD said, adding that 1 024 patients are currently receiving hospital treatment for Coronavirus.

In addition, the Department of Health has now administered 37 162 754 COVID-19 jabs, of which 2 628 428 were given to children aged between 12 and 17.

According to the department, South Africa has 20 247 318 vaccinated adults and 18 461 433 who are fully jabbed.

Globally, as of 27 July 2022, there have been 570 005 017 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6 384 128 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Global view

Globally, the number of weekly cases reported during the week of 18 to 24 July 2022 was similar to the number reported last week, with over 6.6 million new cases.

Likewise, according to the WHO, the number of new weekly deaths was similar to the number reported during the previous week, with over 12 600 fatalities.

At the regional level, the number of new weekly cases increased in the Western Pacific region, the Eastern Mediterranean region and the South-East Asia region, while it decreased in Africa, Europe and America.

The number of new weekly deaths peaked in the Eastern Mediterranean region, the Western Pacific region and the South East Asia region, while it dropped in Africa and Europe. Meanwhile, the region of the Americas was similar to the figure reported during the previous week.

“Current trends in reported COVID-19 cases and deaths should be interpreted with caution as several countries have been progressively changing COVID-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower overall numbers of tests performed and consequently lower numbers of cases detected. Additionally, data are continuously updated to incorporate regular changes made by countries retrospectively,” the WHO said.

At the country level, the highest numbers of new weekly cases were reported from Japan (969 068), the United States (860 097), Germany (565 518), Italy (531 327), and France (508 620).

The highest numbers of new weekly deaths were reported from the United States (2 637), Brazil (1 396), Italy (952), Spain (810), and France (737).

Source: South African Government News Agency