Today the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), reports 24,785 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,255,816. This increase represents a 30.9% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 36 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 90,262 to date.
20,516,511 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 11,054,459 | 53.9% | 43,312 | 53.9% |
| Public | 9,462,052 | 46.1% | 36,992 | 46.1% |
| Total | 20,516,511 | 100.0% | 80,304 | 100.0% |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (27%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (23%). Western Cape accounted for 19%; Eastern Cape accounted for 9%; Free State accounted for 6%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; Limpopo and North West each accounted for 4%; and Northern Cape accounted for 3% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 15 December 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 15 December 2021 | New cases on 16 December 2021 | Total cases for16 December 2021 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 304,724 | -2 | 304,722 | 2,248 | 306,970 | 9,4 |
| Free State | 176,327 | 0 | 176,327 | 1,426 | 177,753 | 5,5 |
| Gauteng | 1,085,799 | 4 | 1,085,803 | 6,744 | 1,092,547 | 33,6 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 554,137 | 3 | 554,140 | 5,821 | 559,961 | 17,2 |
| Limpopo | 133,578 | 2 | 133,580 | 968 | 134,548 | 4,1 |
| Mpumalanga | 166,740 | -8 | 166,732 | 1,286 | 168,018 | 5,2 |
| North West | 168,353 | 1 | 168,354 | 1,070 | 169,424 | 5,2 |
| Northern Cape | 96,221 | 0 | 96,221 | 623 | 96,844 | 3,0 |
| Western Cape | 545,152 | 0 | 545,152 | 4,599 | 549,751 | 16,9 |
| Total | 3,231,031 | 0 | 3,231,031 | 24,785 | 3,255,816 | 100,0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 30.9% which is lower than yesterday (32.2%). The 7-day average is 28.1% today, which is higher than yesterday (28.0%).
For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 347 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 | 259 | 208,184 | 37,561 | 3,075 |
| Public | 407 | 244,900 | 57,658 | 4,539 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 453,084 | 95,219 | 7,614 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.
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