The NICD reported 7,209 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,302,304. This increase represents a 27.3% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 221 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 67,080 to date.
14,269,993 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
| Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
| Private | 7,995,067 | 56% | 12,360 | 47% |
| Public | 6,274,926 | 44% | 14,047 | 53% |
| Total | 14,269,993 | 26,407 |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (36%), followed by the Western Cape (17%). Mpumalanga accounted for 10%; KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 9%; and the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and North West provinces each accounted for 7%; the Free State accounted for 4%; and the Northern Cape accounted for 2% of today’s new. The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:
| Province | Total cases for 18 July 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 18 July 2021 | New cases on 19 July 2021 | Total cases for 19 July 2021 | Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 218,521 | -1 | 218,520 | 537 | 219,057 | 9.5 |
| Free State | 123,111 | 0 | 123,111 | 301 | 123,412 | 5.4 |
| Gauteng | 816,240 | 2 | 816,242 | 2,617 | 818,859 | 35.6 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 375,761 | 0 | 375,761 | 637 | 376,398 | 16.3 |
| Limpopo | 101,960 | 3 | 101,963 | 488 | 102,451 | 4.4 |
| Mpumalanga | 113,945 | -5 | 113,940 | 727 | 114,667 | 5.0 |
| North West | 117,530 | 4 | 117,534 | 497 | 118,031 | 5.1 |
| Northern Cape | 63,416 | -5 | 63,411 | 171 | 63,582 | 2.8 |
| Western Cape | 364,611 | 2 | 364,613 | 1,234 | 365,847 | 15.9 |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Total | 2,295,095 | 0 | 2,295,095 | 7,209 | 2,302,304 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The total number of cases today (n= 7 209) is lower than yesterday (n= 11 215) and lower than the average number of new cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n= 13 646). The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased.
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HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 533 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 | 257 | 164,623 | 28,570 | 9,429 |
| Public | 409 | 176,996 | 41,934 | 7,313 |
| TOTAL | 666 | 341,619 | 70,504 | 16,742 |
VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.