The NICD reports 20,713 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,276,529. This increase represents a 30.4% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 35 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 90,297 to date.
20,584,692 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 11,090,527 | 53.9% | 36,068 | 52.9% |
| Public | 9,494,165 | 46.1% | 32,113 | 47.1% |
| Total | 20,584,692 | 100.0% | 68,181 | 100.0% |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (28%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (25%). Western Cape accounted for 18%; Eastern Cape accounted for 8%; Free State accounted for 6%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; North West accounted for 4%; Limpopo accounted for 3%; 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 15 December 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 15 December 2021 | New cases on 16 December 2021 | Total cases for 16 December 2021 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 306,970 | -1 | 306,969 | 1,583 | 308,552 | 9,4 |
| Free State | 177,753 | 0 | 177,753 | 1,298 | 179,051 | 5,5 |
| Gauteng | 1,092,547 | 5 | 1,092,552 | 5,850 | 1,098,402 | 33,5 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 559,961 | 1 | 559,962 | 5,134 | 565,096 | 17,2 |
| Limpopo | 134,548 | -8 | 134,540 | 687 | 135,227 | 4,1 |
| Mpumalanga | 168,018 | 1 | 168,019 | 1,104 | 169,123 | 5,2 |
| North West | 169,424 | 2 | 169,426 | 893 | 170,319 | 5,2 |
| Northern Cape | 96,844 | 0 | 96,844 | 509 | 97,353 | 3,0 |
| Western Cape | 549,751 | 0 | 549,751 | 3,655 | 553,406 | 16,9 |
| Total | 3,255,816 | 0 | 3,255,816 | 20,713 | 3,276,529 | 100,0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 30.4% which is lower than yesterday (30.9%). The 7-day average is 29.2% today, which is higher than yesterday (28.1%).
For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 429 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 | 208,886 | 37,581 | 3,139 |
| Public | 407 | 245,656 | 57,722 | 4,793 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 454,542 | 95,303 | 7,932 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.