According to the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, the number of laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Northern Cape rose by 938 cases from Friday to Monday.
While South Africa recorded its lowest single-day death toll on Sunday in over four months, the number of positive cases, as well as deaths, have continued to climb in the Northern Cape.
On Friday, September 11, the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize announced 15 additional deaths in the Northern Cape. On Monday, there were 11 more deaths in the province.
The latest tally has brought the total number of deaths in the province due to COVID-19 to 176.
Friday’s deaths included three people from Sol Plaatje, four from Emthanjeni, six from Siyathemba, one from Thembelihle and one from Kai !Garib, while the 11 announced on Monday night included five from Phokwane, five from Tsantsabane and one from David Kruiper.
According to Mkhize, the number of laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Northern Cape rose by 293 on Friday, 205 on Saturday, 268 on Sunday and 172 on Monday.
This is an increase of 938 more cases in the province from Friday to Monday.
In Sol Plaatje the number of laboratory-confirmed positive cases has grown by 276 from Friday to Monday.
The total number of cases in the province is now standing at 13,564 people. Of this number 10,256 have recovered.
Nationally, meanwhile, the 20 deaths recorded on Sunday was the lowest number since 23 May, when 10 people succumbed to the disease.
On Monday, a further 52 deaths were announced by Mkhize. This has pushed the death toll to 15,499 since the outbreak in March.
“Our recoveries now stand at 579,289, which translates to a recovery rate of 88.9%,” Mkhize added.
The hardest-hit provinces include Gauteng with 215,307 cases, KwaZulu-Natal 116,513, the Western Cape 108,486 and the Eastern Cape 87,456.
The information is based on 3,928,614 tests conducted since the outbreak, 10,136 of which were performed in the last 24 hours.
According to the World Health Organisation’s latest report, from 7-13 September, there were over 1.8 million new cases of COVID-19, with over 40,600 deaths reported.
“The region of the Americas has consistently registered the greatest number of reported cases for many weeks. It continues to account for nearly half of the global total of cases, even as cases have declined in the reporting week,” the WHO said.
Meanwhile, the African continent recorded a 14% decline in cases and a 15% decrease in deaths in the past seven days, with 26 of the 47 affected countries reporting decreases in the past week.
“While this is encouraging, vigilance is still essential, as many factors may be influencing these trends, such as testing capacity and strategy, along with delays in reporting in some areas,” said WHO.
South Africa continues to account for the greatest number of cumulative reported cases, and the cumulative deaths per million population remain the highest as well (260 per million population).
“The European region reported the third-highest number of new cases, amounting to 16% of the global total, and is the region with the second-highest cumulative number of cases per million population,” said WHO.
