The NICD reports 1 980 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,698,803. This increase represents a 6.2% 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 40 deaths and of these, 3 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99,767 to date.
23,485,052 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 12,759,995 | 54.3% | 17,533 | 54.6% |
| Public | 10,727,057 | 45.7% | 14,560 | 45.4% |
| Total | 23,485,052 | 100.0% | 32,093 | 100.0% |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (39%), followed by Western Cape (25%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 16%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; Eastern Cape. Free State and North West accounted for 4% each; Limpopo accounted for 2%; Northern Cape accounted for 1% of today’s new cases
The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 15 March 2022 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 15 March 2022 | Incident infections for 16 March 2022 | Possible reinfections for 16 March 2022 | New cases on 16 March 2022 | Total cases for 16 March 2022 |
| Eastern Cape | 344,258 | 0 | 344,258 | 75 | 7 | 82 | 344,340 |
| Free State | 201,693 | 0 | 201,693 | 63 | 10 | 73 | 201,766 |
| Gauteng | 1,201,026 | 0 | 1,201,026 | 646 | 118 | 764 | 1,201,790 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 656,082 | 0 | 656,082 | 286 | 31 | 317 | 656,399 |
| Limpopo | 155,362 | 0 | 155,362 | 34 | 4 | 38 | 155,400 |
| Mpumalanga | 192,462 | 0 | 192,462 | 87 | 15 | 102 | 192,564 |
| North West | 192,147 | 0 | 192,147 | 76 | 6 | 82 | 192,229 |
| Northern Cape | 108,656 | 0 | 108,656 | 26 | 3 | 29 | 108,685 |
| Western Cape | 645,137 | 0 | 645,137 | 430 | 63 | 493 | 645,630 |
| Total | 3,696,823 | 0 | 3,696,823 | 1,723 | 257 | 1,980 | 3,698,803 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 6.2%, which is higher than yesterday (5.8%). The 7-day average is 6.0% today, which is the same as yesterday (6.0%)
For detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 46 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 | 231,620 | 39,341 | 848 |
| Public | 407 | 278,261 | 62,098 | 1223 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 509,881 | 101,439 | 2,071 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.