LATEST CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19 IN SOUTH AFRICA (18 March 2022)

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, continues to provide laboratory-based surveillance to inform the public health response towards COVID-19 in South Africa.

Today the institute reports 1,558 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,702,042This increase represents a 5.3% positivity rate.

Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported. Today, the NDoH reports 39 deaths and of these, 6 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99,868 to date.

23,543,564 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector Total tested New tested
Private 12,793,426 54.3% 16,406 55.9%
Public 10,750,138 45.7% 12,925 44.1%
Total 23,543,564 100.0% 29,331 100.0%

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (36%), followed by Western Cape (28%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 18%; Free State and Mpumalanga each accounted for 4% respectively; Eastern Cape and North West each accounted for 3% respectively; Limpopo accounted for 2%; and Northern Cape accounted for 1% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:

Province Total cases for 17 March 2022 Adjusted numbers after harmonisation Updated total cases on 17 March 2022 New cases on 18 March 2022 Total cases for

18 March 2022

Percentage total
Eastern Cape 344,395 0 344,395 50 344,445 9.3
Free State 201,811 0 201,811 68 201,879 5.5
Gauteng 1,202,361 0 1,202,361 563 1,202,924 32.5
KwaZulu-Natal 656,723 0 656,723 281 657,004 17.7
Limpopo 155,431 0 155,431 35 155,466 4.2
Mpumalanga 192,646 0 192,646 56 192,702 5.2
North West 192,285 0 192,285 44 192,329 5.2
Northern Cape 108,712 0 108,712 22 108,734 2.9
Western Cape 646,120 0 646,120 439 646,559 17.5
Total 3,700,484 0 3,700,484 1,558 3,702,042 100.0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 5.3%, which is lower than yesterday (5.8%). The 7-day average is 5.6% today, which is the lower than yesterday (5.9%).

For detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 39 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.

Sector Facilities Reporting Admissions
to Date
Died to Date Currently Admitted
Private 259 231,644 39,345 812
Public 407 278,407 62,119 1,212
TOTAL 666 510,051 101,464 2,024

VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.

Thank you for your interest and remember that adhering to the following preventative measures helps to limit your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19:

  • Getting vaccinated for COVID-19
  • Wearing your mask properly to cover your nose
  • Opting to gather in ventilated spaces
  • Avoid unnecessary gatherings
  • Keeping a social distance of one meter or more
  • Washing your hands regularly in the day with soap and water

 For more information on COVID-19, click here.

END

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