The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, continues to provide laboratory-based surveillance to inform the public health response towards COVID-19 in South Africa.
The current surge in COVID-19 infections seems to be showing signs of a sustained downward trend. Today the institute reports 3 286 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 880 349. This increase represents a 8.0% positivity rate.
As per the National Department of Health, a further 164 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 86 116 to date.
17 321 958 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 9 362 620 | 54% | 18 201 | 44% |
| Public | 7 959 338 | 46% | 23 107 | 56% |
| Total | 17 321 958 | 41 308 | ||
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (25%), followed by Eastern Cape (16%). Western Cape accounted for 15%; Free State accounted for 12%; Gauteng Province accounted for 11%; Northern Cape accounted for 8%; North West accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; and Limpopo accounted for 1% of today’s new cases.
The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 17 September 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 17 September 2021 | New cases on 18 September 2021 | Total cases for 18 September 2021 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 286979 | 0 | 286979 | 526 | 287505 | 10,0 |
| Free State | 158426 | 0 | 158426 | 378 | 158804 | 5,5 |
| Gauteng | 913513 | -19 | 913494 | 351 | 913845 | 31,7 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 505567 | 0 | 505567 | 834 | 506401 | 17,6 |
| Limpopo | 121504 | 0 | 121504 | 37 | 121541 | 4,2 |
| Mpumalanga | 149590 | 6 | 149596 | 161 | 149757 | 5,2 |
| North West | 148123 | 11 | 148134 | 230 | 148364 | 5,2 |
| Northern Cape | 88054 | 1 | 88055 | 267 | 88322 | 3,1 |
| Western Cape | 505307 | 1 | 505308 | 502 | 505810 | 17,6 |
| Total | 2877063 | 0 | 2877063 | 3286 | 2880349 | 100,0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The total number of cases today (n= 3 286) is lower than yesterday (n= 3 648) and lower than the average number of new cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n= 3 731). The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased.
For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 101 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.
| Sector | Facilities Reporting | Admissions to Date | Died to Date | Currently Admitted |
| Private | 255 | 196 675 | 36 077 | 4 174 |
| Public | 409 | 227 338 | 55 265 | 4 667 |
| TOTAL | 664 | 424 013 | 91 342 | 8 841 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.
Thank you for your interest and remember that adhering to preventative measures limits your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19. For more information on COVID-19, click here.
Kind regards,
Sinenhlanhla Jimoh, Senior Communications Manager
National Institute for Communicable Diseases
