The NICD reports 2,267 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,657,091. This increase represents a 7.5% 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 319 deaths and of these, 9 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 98,617 to date.
22,860,591 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 12,397,760 | 54.2% | 16,655 | 54.8% |
| Public | 10,462,831 | 45.8% | 13,764 | 45.2% |
| Total | 22,860,591 | 100.0% | 30,419 | 100.0% |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (37%), followed by Western Cape (20%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 12%; Mpumalanga accounted for 10%; North West and Free State each accounted for 6% respectively; Eastern Cape and Limpopo each accounted for 4% respectively; and Northern Cape accounted for 2% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 18 Feb 2022 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 18 Feb 2022 | New cases on 19 Feb 2022 | Total cases for 19 Feb 2022 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 342,739 | 0 | 342,739 | 85 | 342,824 | 9.4 |
| Free State | 199,670 | 0 | 199,670 | 130 | 199,800 | 5.5 |
| Gauteng | 1,185,670 | 0 | 1,185,670 | 847 | 1,186,517 | 32.4 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 649,208 | 0 | 649,208 | 271 | 649,479 | 17.8 |
| Limpopo | 154,033 | 0 | 154,033 | 85 | 154,118 | 4.2 |
| Mpumalanga | 189,784 | 0 | 189,784 | 230 | 190,014 | 5.2 |
| North West | 189,572 | 0 | 189,572 | 140 | 189,712 | 5.2 |
| Northern Cape | 107,992 | 0 | 107,992 | 36 | 108,028 | 3.0 |
| Western Cape | 636,156 | 0 | 636,156 | 443 | 636,599 | 17.4 |
| Total | 3,654,824 | 0 | 3,654,824 | 2,267 | 3,657,091 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 7.5%, which is lower than yesterday (8.4%). The 7-day average is 8.1% today, which is lower than yesterday (8.2%).
For detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 36hospital 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 | 228,688 | 39,073 | 1,563 |
| Public | 407 | 275,628 | 61,908 | 1,760 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 504,316 | 100,981 | 3,323 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.