The NICD reports 2,800 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,654,824. This increase represents an 8.4% 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 343 deaths and of these, 4 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 98,298 to date.
22,830,172 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 12,381,105 | 54.2% | 18,757 | 56.0% |
| Public | 10,449,067 | 45.8% | 14,762 | 44.0% |
| Total | 22,830,172 | 100.0% | 33,519 | 100.0% |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (40%), followed by Western Cape (19%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 13%; Mpumalanga accounted for 7%; North West accounted for 6%; Free State and Limpopo each accounted for 5% respectively; Eastern Cape accounted for 4%; 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 17 Feb 2022 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 17 Feb 2022 | New cases on 18 Feb 2022 | Total cases for 18 Feb 2022 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 342,627 | 0 | 342,627 | 112 | 342,739 | 9.4 |
| Free State | 199,522 | 0 | 199,522 | 148 | 199,670 | 5.5 |
| Gauteng | 1,184,559 | 0 | 1,184,559 | 1,111 | 1,185,670 | 32.4 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 648,854 | 0 | 648,854 | 354 | 649,208 | 17.8 |
| Limpopo | 153,900 | 0 | 153,900 | 133 | 154,033 | 4.2 |
| Mpumalanga | 189,589 | 0 | 189,589 | 195 | 189,784 | 5.2 |
| North West | 189,398 | 0 | 189,398 | 174 | 189,572 | 5.2 |
| Northern Cape | 107,942 | -5 | 107,937 | 55 | 107,992 | 3.0 |
| Western Cape | 635,633 | 5 | 635,638 | 518 | 636,156 | 17.4 |
| Total | 3,652,024 | 0 | 3,652,024 | 2,800 | 3,654,824 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 8.4%, which is lower than yesterday (8.8%). The 7-day average is 8.2% today, and is the same as yesterday (8.2%).
For detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 104 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 | 228,697 | 39,067 | 1,687 |
| Public | 407 | 275,574 | 61,912 | 1,763 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 504,271 | 100,979 | 3,450 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.