South Africa’s second wave of COVID-19 infections has seen the country rise in the ranks as far as the number of infections across the globe goes. It already has the most number of cases in the country, and that trend shows no signs of slowing down under lockdown level 3.
The latest number provided by the National Department of Health (NDoH) saw the death toll rise to 6 769, with 114 fatalities recorded on Sunday.
Of the newly reported deaths, the department confirms that 34 were reported in Limpopo, 30 in the Western Cape, 29 in Gauteng, 12 in KwaZulu-Natal, seven in the Eastern Cape and two in the Northern Cape.
In terms of positive COVID-19 cases in the country are concerned, we’ve seen another sharp increase over the past 24 hours, with 11 233 cases reported. This brings the total number of cases int he country to 445 433, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize confirmed.
Gauteng continues to be the worst affected province, with 160 154 confirmed infections. This is followed by the Western Cape with 92 079, Eastern Cape at 73 585 and KwaZulu-Natal with 64 061.
As the health minister explains, the rising numbers in the KwaZulu-Natal area is of concern for the department, as it appears to be on the brink of a massive spike, which happened in Gauteng a couple of months ago.
“The pattern varies according to provinces. The Western Cape numbers are now reducing. KZN is the one that is now on the rise,” he adds.
With public schools currently on a four-week break, with the exception of Matric (one-week) and Grade 7 (two-weeks) students, it looks like the department is also concerned about seeing a spike or potentially a third wave of cases in August.
As such, the decision to re-open public schools next month will no doubt come under more scrutiny.
The only silver lining at this stage is the relatively high recovery rate, with the country also stepping up its testing efforts.
“The recovery rate stands at 59.5% after 265 077 have been cured since the outbreak in March, while 2 773 778 tests have been conducted to date,” according to the NDoH.
The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:
| Province | Confirmed Cases | Recoveries | Active cases | Deaths |
| Western Cape | 92 079 | 75 355 | 16 724 | 2 875 |
| Eastern Cape | 73 585 | 68 290 | 5295 | 1 457 |
| Northern Cape | 3 600 | 1 223 | 2377 | 29 |
| Free State | 16 482 | 2 075 | 14407 | 63 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 64 061 | 21 251 | 42810 | 614 |
| North West | 17 338 | 6 076 | 11262 | 48 |
| Mpumalanga | 110 08 | 3 466 | 7542 | 52 |
| Gauteng | 160 154 | 92 346 | 67808 | 1 564 |
| Limpopo | 7 076 | 3 466 | 3610 | 67 |
| Unknown | 50 | |||
| TOTAL | 445 433 | 273 548 | 171 885 | 6 769 |
As always, in order to stay up to date with the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa and abroad, we advise the following materials and platforms:
- Dr Zweli Mkhize on Twitter
- COVID-19 Connect on WhatsApp – add 0600 123 456 as a contact and say “Hi”.
- World Health Organisation
- SA Coronavirus website
- SA Government
- SA Presidency
[Image – CC 0 Unsplash]
