Today the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), reports 9 020 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 433 554. This increase represents a 26% positivity rate.
As per the National Department of Health, a further 81 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 90 935 to date.
21 141 715 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 11,410,123 | 54% | 21,412 | 61.6% |
| Public | 9,731,592 | 46% | 13,341 | 38.4% |
| Total | 21 141 715 | 34 753 |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (28%), followed by Western Cape (21%). Gauteng accounted for 21%; Eastern Cape accounted for 15%; Free State accounted for 5%; Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and North West each accounted for 3% respectively; 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 28 December 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 28 December 2021 | New cases on 29 December 2021 | Total cases for 29 December 2021 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 323959 | -3 | 323956 | 950 | 324906 | 9.5 |
| Free State | 187810 | 0 | 187810 | 486 | 188296 | 5.5 |
| Gauteng | 1128285 | 2 | 1128287 | 1859 | 1130146 | 32.9 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 603486 | 0 | 603486 | 2522 | 606008 | 17.6 |
| Limpopo | 140401 | -1 | 140400 | 344 | 140744 | 4.1 |
| Mpumalanga | 175599 | 0 | 175599 | 364 | 175963 | 5.1 |
| North West | 178007 | 0 | 178007 | 341 | 178348 | 5.2 |
| Northern Cape | 101188 | 0 | 101188 | 193 | 101381 | 3.0 |
| Western Cape | 585799 | 2 | 585801 | 1961 | 587762 | 17.1 |
| Total | 3424534 | 0 | 3424534 | 9020 | 3433554 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 26.0% which is higher than yesterday (23.6%). The 7-day average is 26.1% today, which is lower than yesterday (26.8%). 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 458 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 | 215292 | 37926 | 3260 |
| Public | 407 | 254805 | 58504 | 5778 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 470097 | 96430 | 9038 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.