Today the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), reports 15,424 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,332,008. This increase represents a 27.6% positivity rate.
As per the National Department of Health, a further 35 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 90,488 to date.
20,775,208 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 11,198,127 | 53.9% | 27,868 | 49.9% |
| Public | 9,577,081 | 46.1% | 28,009 | 50.1% |
| Total | 20,775,208 | 100.0% | 55,877 | 100.0% |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (26%), followed by Western Cape (22%). Gauteng accounted for 21%; Eastern Cape 9% and Free State 6%. North West accounted for 5%; Limpopo and Mpumalanga each accounted for 4%. 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 20 December 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 20 December 2021 | New cases on 21 December 2021 | Total cases for 21 December 2021 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 312,070 | 0 | 312,070 | 1,442 | 313,512 | 9,4 |
| Free State | 181,618 | 2 | 181,620 | 928 | 182,548 | 5,5 |
| Gauteng | 1,107,343 | 17 | 1,107,360 | 3,316 | 1,110,676 | 33,3 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 575,932 | 0 | 575,932 | 4,009 | 579,941 | 17,4 |
| Limpopo | 136,526 | 35 | 136,561 | 619 | 137,180 | 4,1 |
| Mpumalanga | 171,001 | 5 | 171,006 | 555 | 171,561 | 5,1 |
| North West | 172,826 | -52 | 172,774 | 831 | 173,605 | 5,2 |
| Northern Cape | 984,26 | -13 | 98,413 | 400 | 98,813 | 3,0 |
| Western Cape | 560,843 | 5 | 560,848 | 3,324 | 564,172 | 16,9 |
| Total | 3,316,585 | -1 | 3,316,584 | 15,424 | 3,332,008 | 100,0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 27,6% which is lower than yesterday (29,9%). The 7-day average is 30,1% today, which is lower than yesterday (31,1%).
For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 633 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 | 211,300 | 37,682 | 3,654 |
| Public | 407 | 248,544 | 57,939 | 5,369 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 459,844 | 95,621 | 9,023 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.
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