As we enter the weekend under adjusted level 1 lockdown, the number of cases regarding COVID-19 in South Africa is looking more stable.

While it remains to be seen what impact the move to a lower lockdown, as well as an easing of restrictions, will have on the spread of the virus as a fourth wave is predicted for November, the general outlook is more positive now than it was a month ago.

It is why the UK recently removed South Africa from the “red list” of nations and will likely see more travel between our nation and the region in the coming weeks and months.

Looking at the latest report from the National Department of Health (NDoH), 989 new cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours. That daily figure has increased slightly with each passing day this week, but is well below the numbers we have seen in the past month.

The NDoH has since confirmed that 2 909 757 cases have been recorded in SA to date, with the recovery rate still sitting at 95.8 percent and over 17.89 million tests having been conducted so far.

As for the vaccine rollout, the past 24 hours has seen 212 612 vaccines administered as turnout to sites across the country pick up following government’s announcement to intensify efforts on that front.

As of 17:00 on 7th October, a total of 18 735 127 vaccines have been administered, with an estimated 9 686 443 people inoculated at this stage.

The full outlook for COVID-19 in South Africa follows on below:

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:

• 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 Mat Napo on Unsplash]