Over the past week, there has been a sharp increase in the number of new daily infections for COVID-19 in South Africa. This has prompted many to state that we are in the precipice of a third wave of infections in the country, with the Free State already said to be in the midst of it.

While we await news from the National Department of Health (NDoH) or Presidency on what this means for the current adjusted level 1 lockdown, everyone is being urged to remain vigilant in stopping the spread of the virus, especially with the colder months of the year now on our doorstep.

Looking at the latest report from the NDoH, 1 778 new cases have been recorded over the past 24 hours as the total number of infections recorded to date has climbed to 1 596 595. The department also confirms that 382 480 vaccines have been administered to date, along with more than 10.88 million tests having been conducted so far.

The recovery rate remains at 95 percent, which it has done for more than a month now. This as 1 516 256 recoveries have been reported. Should a third wave hit, that number will decrease significantly.

Unfortunately 11 new fatalities have been reported too, with Gauteng accounting for eight. The death toll related to COVID-19 in South Africa has increased to 54 735 as a result.

The full breakdown of COVID-19 in South Africa is as follows:

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 – Photo by Maskmedicare Shop on Unsplash]