The NICD reports 889 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,704,218. This increase represents a 5.4% 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 2 deaths and of these, 2 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 99,881 to date.
23,585,561 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 12,819,649 | 54.4% | 10,762 | 65.5% |
| Public | 10,765,912 | 45.6% | 5,674 | 34.5% |
| Total | 23,585,561 | 100.0% | 16,436 | 100.0% |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (39%), followed by Western Cape (28%). Kwa-Zulu Natal accounted for 18%; Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 4% respectively. Eastern Cape and Free State each accounted for 2% respectively; and Limpopo & Northern Cape each accounted for 1% respectively of today’s new cases
The cumulative number of cases by province are shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 19 March 2022 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 19 March 2022 | Incident infections for 20 March 2022 | Possible reinfections for 20 March 2022 | New cases on 20 March 2022 | Total cases for 20 March 2022 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 344,479 | 0 | 344,479 | 16 | 1 | 17 | 344,496 | 9.3 |
| Free State | 201,924 | 0 | 201,924 | 17 | 1 | 18 | 201,942 | 5.5 |
| Gauteng | 1,203,388 | 0 | 1,203,388 | 301 | 48 | 349 | 1,203,737 | 32.5 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 657,275 | 0 | 657,275 | 140 | 22 | 162 | 657,437 | 17.7 |
| Limpopo | 155,501 | 0 | 155,501 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 155,506 | 4.2 |
| Mpumalanga | 192,742 | 0 | 192,742 | 34 | 5 | 39 | 192,781 | 5.2 |
| North West | 192,392 | 0 | 192,392 | 36 | 3 | 39 | 192,431 | 5.2 |
| Northern Cape | 108,749 | 0 | 108,749 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 108,757 | 2.9 |
| Western Cape | 646,879 | 0 | 646,879 | 227 | 25 | 252 | 647,131 | 17.5 |
| Total | 3,703,329 | 0 | 3,703,329 | 782 | 107 | 889 | 3,704,218 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 5.4%, which is higher than yesterday (5.0%). The 7-day average is 5.5% today, which is the same as yesterday (5.5%).
For detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.
HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 12 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 | 231,667 | 39,349 | 806 |
| Public | 407 | 278,490 | 62,124 | 1222 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 510,157 | 101,473 | 2,028 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.