Big jump in new Covid-19 cases as SA records 8,500 in 24 hours

The number of new Covid-19 cases nearly doubled between Tuesday and Wednesday, the latest National Institute for Communicable Diseases data showed.

Figures from the NICD on Wednesday showed that there were 8,561 new infections reported in the past 24 hours, up from 4,373 reported the day before.

There would also be concerns around the positivity rate — the number of confirmed infections against the number of tests taken in the same period — which rose from 10.2% on Tuesday to 16.5% on Wednesday.

Health officials have previously said that a 12% positivity rate was cause for concern.

The worst-hit province continues to be Gauteng, which recorded 6,168 cases in the past 24 hours (up from 3,143 on Tuesday). The Western Cape recorded 626 cases (up from 275), KwaZulu-Natal 476 (up from 259), Mpumalanga 375 (up from 139) and the North West 253 (up from 200).

There were also 28 Covid-19 related deaths recorded in the past day, according to health department figures released by the NICD.

This means that there have been 2,976,613 confirmed cases and 89,871 confirmed deaths from the virus to date.

“The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 16.5% which higher than yesterday (10.7%). The seven-day average is 10.3% today, which is higher than yesterday (8.5%)," the NICD said.

Figures also showed that there were 135 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours, compared to the 119 admissions recorded on Tuesday. There are 2,550 people being treated for Covid-19 related complications in SA's hospitals.

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