LATEST CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19 IN SOUTH AFRICA (26 August 2021)

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, continues the monitoring and surveillance of COVID-19 in order to inform the public health response.

Today the institute reports 12,771 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,734,973. This increase represents a 19.3% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 357 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 80 826 to date.

16,228,941 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

SectorTotal testedNew tested
PRIVATE8,885,94755%26,35840%
PUBLIC7,342,99445%39,75860%
Total16,228,94166,116

 

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (28%), followed by Western Cape (24%). Eastern Cape accounted for 13%; Gauteng Province accounted for 9%; Free State accounted for 8%; Northern Cape accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; North West accounted for 4%, and Limpopo Province accounted for 2% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:

ProvinceTotal cases for 25 August 2021Adjusted numbers after harmonisationUpdated total cases on 25 August  2021New cases on 26 August 2021Total cases for 26 August 2021Percentage total
Eastern Cape260111026011116572617689.6
Free State14432201443229651452875.3
Gauteng9009165900921114990207033.0
KwaZulu-Natal4634830463483361046709317.1
Limpopo11885931188622931191554.4
Mpumalanga14176441417686351424035.2
North West141080-131410675731416405.2
Northern Cape78199178200851790512.9
Western Cape4734680473468303847650617.4
Unknown000000.0
Total272220202722202127712734973100.0

 THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The total number of cases today (n= 12 771) is lower than yesterday (n= 13 251) but higher than the average number of new cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n= 11 760).

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 495 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.

SectorFacilities ReportingAdmissions
to Date
Died to DateCurrently Admitted
Private255189,87934,4936,486
Public409213,59251,8687,160
TOTAL664403,47186,36113,646

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

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