The NICD reports 619 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,916,179. This increase represents a 2.2% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 25 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 88,587 to date.
18,151,283 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| PRIVATE | 9,780,240 | 54% | 14,580 | 51% |
| PUBLIC | 8,371,043 | 46% | 14,005 | 49% |
| Total | 18,151,283 | 28,585 |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Western Cape (21%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal accounting for 19%. Gauteng accounted for 15%; Eastern Cape and Free State each accounted for 11% respectively; Northern Cape accounted for 9%; North West accounted for 7%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; and Limpopo accounted for 3% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 15 Oct 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 15 Oct 2021 | New cases on 16 Oct 2021 | Total cases for 16 Oct 2021 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 291,868 | 0 | 291,868 | 67 | 291,935 | 10,0 |
| Free State | 162,702 | 0 | 162,702 | 65 | 162,767 | 5,6 |
| Gauteng | 918,318 | 0 | 918,318 | 93 | 918,411 | 31,5 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 514,399 | 0 | 514,399 | 116 | 514,515 | 17,6 |
| Limpopo | 122,100 | 0 | 122,100 | 20 | 122,120 | 4,2 |
| Mpumalanga | 151,550 | 0 | 151,550 | 34 | 151,584 | 5,2 |
| North West | 150,217 | 0 | 150,217 | 42 | 150,259 | 5,2 |
| Northern Cape | 91,902 | 0 | 91,902 | 53 | 91,955 | 3,2 |
| Western Cape | 512,504 | 0 | 512,504 | 129 | 512,633 | 17,6 |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,0 |
| Total | 2,915,560 | 0 | 2,915,560 | 619 | 2,916,179 | 100,0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCEThe total number of cases today (n= 619) is lower than yesterday (n= 733) and lower than the average number of cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n= 669).
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HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 34 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 | 200,167 | 36,920 | 2,948 |
| Public | 408 | 232,646 | 56,694 | 2,095 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 432,813 | 93,614 | 5,043 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.