South Africa has recorded 8 179 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 908 020.

This increase represents a 22.6% positivity rate.

In a statement on Wednesday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said there might be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH).

“Today, the NDoH reports 55 deaths, and of these, 18 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 100 867 to date,” the NICD said.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (38%), followed by the Western Cape (21%). KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 15%; Eastern Cape 8% and Free State 7% of the new cases.

The Northern Cape accounted for 4%; Mpumalanga and North West 3% each, and Limpopo 1% of the new cases.

“The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is (22.6%), and is higher than yesterday (20.9%). The 7-day average is (23.1%) today, and is lower than yesterday (23.4%),” the NICD said.

There has been an increase of 145 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. 

South Africa has to date conducted 24 963 628 COVID-19 tests in both the public and private sectors.

Source: South African Government News Agency