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COVID-19: SA records more than 10k cases, death toll nears 80k
South Africa recorded 10 346 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, 24 August. Unfortunately, 369 more people succumbed to the disease.
Photo: Pexels
South Africa recorded just over 10 000 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, 24 August, according to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). The 55 678 tests conducted over the past 24 hours represent a positivity rate of 18.6%, down from yesterday’s 20.7%. KwaZulu-Natal continues to be the epicentre of the disease, while the Western Cape and Eastern Cape followed with an equal share of the cases on the day.
SA ADDS 10 346 NEW COVID-19 CASES
The 10 346 new COVID-19 cases detected in South Africa on Tuesday brings the total number of active cases in the country to 164 389. Unfortunately, 369 more people died of COVID-19-related complications, according to the NICD, bringing the death toll to 79 953.
A further 493 people were hospitalised because of COVID-19 within the past 24 hours. There are now 13 974 people admitted for treatment in 255 private and 409 public hospitals.
“The total number of cases today (n=10 346) is higher than yesterday (n=7632) and lower than the average number of new cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n=12 100),” said the NICD.
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“The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased.”
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
KwaZulu-Natal accounted for the majority of the new cases identified once again with 31%, followed by the Western Cape and Eastern Cape which both had 20%.
The remaining provinces contributed single-digit percentage points, starting with Gauteng with 9%, followed by Free State (7%), Mpumalanga (5%). Northern Cape and North West with 3% each and Limpopo rounded off the list with 2% of the cases on Tuesday.
The list below shows the new COVID-19 cases identified by province, the bracketed number is the number of cases detected on the previous day:
- Eastern Cape – 2103 cases (1286);
- Free State – 750 cases (468);
- Gauteng – 952 cases (513);
- KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) – 3160 cases (2542);
- Limpopo – 189 cases (93);
- Mpumalanga – 491 cases (367);
- North West – 311 cases (337);
- Northern Cape – 361 cases (392);;
- Western Cape – 2029 cases (1634); and
- Unallocated – 0 cases
