By Kaya 959 Reporter
While the country’s number of new COVID-19 infections is decreasing, people should remain vigilant and adhere to safety protocols.
Health experts have confirmed that Gauteng has exited the third wave.
The NICD’s Head of Public Health, Surveillance and Response, Dr Michelle Groome, said the national 7-day moving average of daily case numbers, positivity rate and testing rate continue to decrease.
Sustained decreases were seen in all provinces.
“Gauteng, Limpopo and North West Provinces have exited the third wave according to the current wave definitions. There are also sustained decreases in Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths in all provinces. These trends are encouraging but we should not let our guard down yet,” Groome said.
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Vaccine rollout
Groome said that while vaccination coverage is increasing amid a stable vaccine supply, SA has not yet vaccinated the majority of the adult population.
“Some 30% of the adult population have received at least one vaccine dose and in the coming months we need to prioritise the vaccine rollout, especially to those at risk for severe COVID-19 disease and those with underlying comorbidities.
“Mask wearing, social distancing and hand hygiene remain the main preventative strategies until our vaccine coverage rates increase,” Groome said.
According to the latest from the NICD, 2 967 new COVID-19 cases have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 889 298. This increase represents a 7.0% positivity rate.
As per the National Department of Health, a further 124 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 86,500 to date. 17,452,783 tests have been conducted in both the public and private sectors.
The majority of new cases were from KwaZulu-Natal (23%), followed by Western Cape (20%).
Eastern Cape accounted for 12%; Free State & Gauteng Province each accounted for 11% respectively; Northern Cape accounted for 8%; North West accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga accounted for 6%; and Limpopo accounted for 2%.
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