By Kaya 959 News
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has noted a decrease in COVID-19 testing rates in the last two weeks.
The NICD’s Dr Michelle Groome said while this may be reflective of a decreased need for testing due to decreased infections, access to testing has been limited in certain areas due to the social unrest.
Groome said trends in the coming week will be important in confirming whether the peak of the third wave has indeed been reached or not.
The NICD reported that the average number of daily cases has decreased.
Dr Harry Moultrie, Senior Epidemiologist at the NICD, said that the national 7-day moving average of SARS-CoV-2 cases has declined since 6 July 2021, largely because of the decline in Gauteng.
“The percentage testing positive however increased in Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and Western Cape in week 28 compared to previous weeks. While the percentage testing positive has decreased in Gauteng, Limpopo and North West, the percentage testing positive remained very high in these provinces,” he said.
The NICD on Tuesday reported an increase of 8 929 new cases. South Africa now has a total of 2 311 232 laboratory-confirmed cases with 596 new COVID-related deaths.
READ: Coping with the death of a loved one during COVID-19 pandemic
https://twitter.com/HealthZA/status/1417530162049126403
SA has lost 67 676 people to COVID-19.
The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (37%), followed by the Western Cape (19%).
KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 11%; the North West accounted for 8%; the Eastern Cape accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga and Limpopo each accounted for 6%; the Free State accounted for 4%; and the Northern Cape accounted for 2% of the new cases.
In the last 24 hours, 596 deaths have been reported which brings the total to 67 676 deaths – reported as at 17:00. This report provides updates on the COVID-19 related deaths that have been reported by Provinces, with supporting line lists. pic.twitter.com/ydddHA4cow
— National Department of Health (@HealthZA) July 20, 2021
The Gauteng Provincial Government is urging people over the age of 35 to register for the vaccine.



