Category: In The News

Amid the sharp rise in COVID-19 infections, Cabinet has urged the public take stronger action to fight back against the disease and its variants.

In the last 24 hours, the country recorded 19 842 cases, translating into a 26.8% positivity rate.

“We have also lost 36 people to COVID-19 related complications in the last 24 hours,” said Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele during a post-Cabinet media briefing on Thursday.

“Vaccination does not only help us fight back against the deadly pandemic by preventing serious illness, hospitalisation or even death, but it also reduces the health risks posed by future variants.

“We must continue adhering to the non-pharmaceutical prevention measures of wearing a mask that covers our mouth and nose; maintaining social distancing and regularly washing our hands with soap and water or using a 70% alcohol-based hand sanitiser.”

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Photo: Flickr

South Africa’s COVID-19 cases jumped by 19 842 on Wednesday, pushing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 071 064.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), this increase represents a 26.8% positivity rate, with Gauteng continuing to record the highest daily infections.  

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#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 73,911 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 19,842 new cases, which represents a 26.8% positivity rate. A further 36 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 90,038 to date. See more here: https://t.co/4CCXgV2Qus pic.twitter.com/eyyX3l8hsm

— NICD (@nicd_sa) December 8, 2021

Photo: Unsplash

The South African Health Products Authority (SAHPRA) has approved the administering of the third dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for adults and children with a weak immune system.

This means all adults in South Africa are now eligible for an additional shot six months after the second dose and it may be given at any point after that time.

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Media release: SAHPRA approval of booster dosing with the Pfizer (Comirnaty®) COVID-19 vaccine [Follow thread]

Read full media release: https://t.co/IDD2VBdT5W#CovidVaccine #PFIZER #SAHPRA

— SAHPRA (@SAHPRA1) December 8, 2021

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South Africa’s COVID-19 death toll has now crossed the 90 000 mark after 27 more people lost their lives to the virus on Tuesday.

The reported 27 deaths bring the total number of deaths to 90 002.

Meanwhile, 52 890 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, with 13 147 new cases, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said.

According to the NICD, Gauteng remains the epicentre with 8 445 new infections reported. It is followed by 1 396 cases in KwaZulu-Natal, 805 in the Western Cape and 720 in the North West, representing a 24.9% positivity rate.

This means there is now a caseload of 3 051 222 since the outbreak.

In addition, the Department of Health announced that 140 281 vaccine doses were given since the last reporting cycle, of which 29 965 were administered to children.

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#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 52,890 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 13,147 new cases, which represents a 24.9% positivity rate. A further 27 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 90,002 to date. See more here: https://t.co/fMvLuHRF7X pic.twitter.com/Z3Si9LkUFp

— NICD (@nicd_sa) December 7, 2021

Photo: Unsplash

Marking of the 2021 National Senior Certificate examinations, which concluded without major incidents that could compromise the examination as a whole, will begin on Wednesday.

The Department of Basic Education in a statement said there were no confirmed reported serious irregularities that could threaten the credibility, integrity and image of the examinations, as a whole. This was apart from reported incidents of some candidates caught with crib notes and cellphones.

The five-week long examination, which began on 27 October, was written in 6 326 public examination centres, 526 independent centres and 326 designated centres.

A total of 897 786 candidates registered to sit for the November 2021 NSC examinations, comprising 735 677 full-time candidates and 162 109 part-time candidates.

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An upcoming webinar on 8 December, entitled “From Combatting Racism to Overcoming Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia: the Old and the New for the Present and the Future of Racial Justice,” will publicly launch a new World Council of Churches (WCC) programme while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the WCC Progamme to Combat Racism.

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Photo: WCC Archive

South Africa has recorded close to 6 400 new COVID-19 cases and nine deaths, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Monday.

The NICD announced that 4 488 new infections were detected in Gauteng, which is currently the epicentre of the fourth wave. There were 635 cases in KwaZulu-Natal, 356 in the Western Cape and 337 in Mpumalanga.

According to the latest data, the increase represents a 26.4% positivity rate, meaning the country now has a caseload of 3 038 075 COVID-19 infections.

In addition, the death toll stands at 89 975 since the outbreak, while those who are receiving hospital treatment has risen to 3 517 after 175 new admissions were recorded in the past 24 hours.

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#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 24,159 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 6 381 new cases, which represents a 26.4% positivity rate. A further 9 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,975 to date. See more here: https://t.co/BT1tQYpcWk pic.twitter.com/GJQqBIw9uW

— NICD (@nicd_sa) December 6, 2021

Photo: Unsplash

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) will be meeting to take stock of the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

This as new COVID-19 cases surged by nearly five-fold over the past weeks alone – rising from a positivity rate of about 2% to about 25%.

“We will soon be convening a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council to review the state of the pandemic. This will enable us to take whatever further measures are needed to keep people safe and healthy,” the President said in his weekly newsletter on Monday.

The President said although the steep rise in infections is a concern, the surge and the emergence of new variants like Omicron were to be expected.

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As we enter the fourth wave, and as the country gears up for the festive season, the urgent priority is for more people to get vaccinated. Scientific evidence shows that vaccination is the most effective means of preventing the spread of new infections. https://t.co/xTifscW7es pic.twitter.com/fLxMmID1zI

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) December 6, 2021

Photo: GCIS

As the country heads into a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, we are experiencing a rate of infections that we have not seen since the pandemic started, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated in his latest newsletter.

The Omicron variant that was brought to global attention by South African scientists nearly two weeks ago appears to be dominating new infections in most provinces.

Over the last week, the number of daily infections has increased five-fold. Nearly a quarter of all COVID-19 tests now come back positive. Compare this to two weeks ago, when the proportion of positive tests was sitting at around 2%.

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Photo: Flickr / GCIS

South Africa’s COVID-19 cases continue to soar, with over 11 000 new cases reported in the past 24 hours. The country has reported 11 125 new COVID-19 cases.

This means there are now 3 031 694 confirmed cases since the beginning of the outbreak.

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