This report is based on data collected up to 25 March 2023 (week 12 of 2023).

This will be the final weekly epidemiological brief for SARS-CoV-2. Going forward, trends of SARS-CoV-2 will be monitored using systematic, syndromic surveillance, reported in the weekly respiratory pathogens report published on the NICD webpage.

Key highlights:

• As of 25 March 2023, a total of 4 072 533 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases had been detected in South Africa. Of these, 2 099 were cases reported since the last report (week 11 of 2023). There was a 25% decrease in the number of new cases detected in week 12 of 2023 (1 836) compared to the number of new cases detected in week 11 of 2023 (2 440).
• In the past week, Gauteng Province reported the highest weekly incidence risk (7.0 cases per 100 000 persons), followed by Western Cape Province (3.7 cases per 100 000 persons). The other provinces reported weekly incidences below 2.0 cases per 100 000 persons.

COVID-19 WEEKLY EPIDEMIOLOGICAL BRIEF WEEK 12 (2023)