Today the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reports 210 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 916 803. This increase represents a 1.4% positivity rate.
As per the National Department of Health, a further 7COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 88 619 to date.
18 189 273 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| PRIVATE | 9 802 889 | 54% | 9 173 | 61% |
| PUBLIC | 8 386 384 | 46% | 5 853 | 39% |
| Total | 18 189 273 | 15 026 |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng Province (37%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (19%), and Western Cape (16%). Free State accounted for 7%; North West accounted for 6%; Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga accounted for 5% each; Limpopo and Northern Cape each accounted for 2% of today’s new cases.
The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 17 October 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 17 October 2021 | New cases on 18 October 2021 | Total cases for 18 October 2021 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 291966 | 0 | 291966 | 14 | 291980 | 10.0 |
| Free State | 162819 | 0 | 162819 | 31 | 162850 | 5.6 |
| Gauteng | 918498 | 0 | 918498 | 38 | 918536 | 31.5 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 514582 | 0 | 514582 | 41 | 514623 | 17.6 |
| Limpopo | 122127 | 0 | 122127 | 2 | 122129 | 4.2 |
| Mpumalanga | 151595 | 0 | 151595 | 11 | 151606 | 5.2 |
| North West | 150280 | 0 | 150280 | 15 | 150295 | 5.2 |
| Northern Cape | 92000 | -1 | 91999 | 15 | 92014 | 3.2 |
| Western Cape | 512726 | 1 | 512727 | 43 | 512770 | 17.6 |
| Total | 2916593 | 0 | 2916593 | 210 | 2916803 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 1.4% which is lower than yesterday (1.8%). The 7-day average is 2.1% today, which is lower than yesterday. The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has increased.
For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 24 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 | 258 | 200,227 | 36,936 | 2,906 |
| Public | 408 | 232,835 | 56,735 | 2,029 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 433,062 | 93,671 | 4,935 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.