1 367 new coronavirus cases reported in SA

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases has reported 1 367 new COVID-19 cases, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 898 888. This increase represents an 8.6% positivity rate.

A further 201 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 87,417 to date.

A total of 17 603 913 tests have been conducted in both the public and private sectors.

Below are the latest coronavirus statistics: 

 

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, John Steenhuisen has expressed concern over the decision by the United Kingdom, to put South Africa on a red list, following uncertainty on the number of COVID-19 infections.

The United Kingdom (UK) has announced that it will be using data and expertise from South Africa when it reviews its COVID-19 travel red list.

An updated list of the countries that fall under the red in that country shows that South Africa remains there, while Kenya and Egypt will soon be moved from the list.

Steenhuisen addressed the media in Johannesburg this morning, during the unveiling of the DA’s City of Joburg Manifesto for the upcoming local government elections.

He says the blame should be put on President Cyril Ramaphosa for a slow vaccination race.

“If we are on the red list, it’s going to make it far difficult for us to be able to attract tourists and bring some light into our tourism industry, which has been completely decimated during the course of COVID-19. Maybe, we need to go back a step on why we are still on that red list, and part of it is because we have a very low number of vaccinated people, and blame for that must lie into the Ramaphosa administration, who woke up far too late in the vaccine race.”

On Monday, scientific experts from the UK and the South African government met to discuss the latest trends around COVID-19, respective COVID-19 testing strategies, and the prevalence and risk posed to vaccination programmes by variants of concern.

The meeting was initiated by the UK High Commission and South African government to ensure the most up-to-date and accurate sharing of information.

According to a statement, the insights provided will feed into the next review of UK border measures.

Experts also discussed the recognition of each other’s vaccine certificates.

The UK side explained that, following some initial pilots, it was now seeking to extend its recognition of vaccine certificates around the world as rapidly as possible.