The NICD reported 13,992 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,180,785. This increase represents a 31.0% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 11 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 90,148 to date.
20,283,906 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
Private | 10,931,420 | 53.9% | 23,583 | 52.3% |
Public | 9,352,486 | 46.1% | 21,518 | 47.7% |
Total | 20,283,906 | 45,101 |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (48%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (19%). Western Cape accounted for 10%; Free State and North West each accounted for 5% respectively; Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga each accounted for 4% respectively; Limpopo accounted for 2%; and 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 12 December 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 12 December 2021 | New cases on 13 December 2021 | Total cases for 13 December 2021 | Percentage total |
Eastern Cape | 300165 | -47 | 300118 | 606 | 300724 | 9.5 |
Free State | 172704 | -3 | 172701 | 647 | 173348 | 5.4 |
Gauteng | 1063349 | -495 | 1062854 | 6711 | 1069565 | 33.6 |
KwaZulu-Natal | 540383 | -53 | 540330 | 2715 | 543045 | 17.1 |
Limpopo | 131243 | 26 | 131269 | 328 | 131597 | 4.1 |
Mpumalanga | 163671 | -83 | 163588 | 617 | 164205 | 5.2 |
North West | 164794 | -45 | 164749 | 713 | 165462 | 5.2 |
Northern Cape | 95097 | -2 | 95095 | 191 | 95286 | 3.0 |
Western Cape | 536091 | -2 | 536089 | 1464 | 537553 | 16.9 |
Total | 3167497 | -704 | 3166793 | 13992 | 3180785 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 31,0% which is higher than yesterday (28,9%). The 7-day average is 25,8% today, which is higher than yesterday (25,1%).

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HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 422 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 | 258 | 206,237 | 37,528 | 2,581 |
Public | 407 | 242,275 | 57,523 | 3,617 |
TOTAL | 665 | 448,512 | 95,051 | 6,198 |
VACCINE UPDATE
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