The NICD reports 566 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 704 784. This increase represents a 3.9% positivity rate.
Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported. Today, the NDoH reports 9 deaths and of these, 4 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99,890 to date.
23 599 964 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 12,828,198 | 54.4% | 8,549 | 59.4% |
| Public | 10,771,766 | 45.6% | 5,854 | 40.6% |
| Total | 23,599,964 | 100.0% | 14,403 | 100.0% |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng Province (41%), followed by Western Cape (25%). KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 21%; North West accounted for 4%; Mpumalanga accounted for 3%; Eastern Cape & Free State each accounted for 2% respectively; and Limpopo & Northern Cape each accounted for 1% respectively of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 20 March 2022 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 20 March 2022 | Incident infections for 21 March 2022 | Possible reinfections for 21 March 2022 | New cases on 21 March 2022 | Total cases for 21 March 2022 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 344496 | 0 | 344496 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 344506 | 9.3 |
| Free State | 201942 | 0 | 201942 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 201952 | 5.5 |
| Gauteng | 1203737 | 0 | 1203737 | 202 | 31 | 233 | 1203970 | 32.5 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 657437 | 0 | 657437 | 103 | 14 | 117 | 657554 | 17.7 |
| Limpopo | 155506 | 0 | 155506 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 155512 | 4.2 |
| Mpumalanga | 192781 | 0 | 192781 | 17 | 2 | 19 | 192800 | 5.2 |
| North West | 192431 | 0 | 192431 | 21 | 3 | 24 | 192455 | 5.2 |
| Northern Cape | 108757 | 0 | 108757 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 108764 | 2.9 |
| Western Cape | 647131 | 0 | 647131 | 123 | 17 | 140 | 647271 | 17.5 |
| Total | 3704218 | 0 | 3704218 | 495 | 71 | 566 | 3704784 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 3.9%, which is lower than yesterday (5.4%). The 7-day average is 5.6% today, which is higher than yesterday (5.5%). 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 7 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 | 231671 | 39349 | 798 |
| Public | 407 | 278510 | 62132 | 1212 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 510181 | 101481 | 2010 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.