Cape Town - Over the past 24 hours, 1 004 new positive Covid-19 cases and a further 65 deaths were reported, the health ministry said on Sunday.
Cumulatively, the country has recorded 1 529 420 positive case since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The death toll stands at 51 326.
Dr Ridhwaan Suliman, senior reseracher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, told the SABC on Sunday night that the increase in new cases to just under 1 200 per day over the past week represented a week-on-week increase of 3 percent.
“There’s certainly a change in the trajectory that we have seen over the previous eight weeks and, although not a drastic increase, its something we do need to take note of,” Dr Suliman said.
He pointed out that it would be naive to ignore the move to level one and the increased mobility that accompanied it as possible reasons for the increase in new daily reported cases.
Suliman said this increase was also impacted by the lag in testing and reporting. He stressed that authorities are monitoring the situation and hope to “nip it in the bud” before it gets out of hand.
Testing
Over the past year, 9 450 492 tests have been conducted with 23 903 tests completed since the last report.
Recoveries
South Africa has recorded 1 454 290 recoveries, representing a recovery rate of 95%.
Deaths by province for March 14:
Eastern Cape 1
Free State 27
Gauteng 12
Kwa-Zulu Natal 20
Western Cape 5
Vaccine drive
“The number of health care workers vaccinated under the Sisonke Protocol remains 145 544. Today was earmarked for administrative work and the vaccination schedule will resume tomorrow,” the health department said.
IOL