The NICD reports 7,740 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,764,931. This increase represents a 17.0% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 134 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 81,595 to date.
16,393,971 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.
Sector | Total tested | New tested | ||
PRIVATE | 8,953,815 | 55% | 19,889 | 44% |
PUBLIC | 7,440,156 | 45% | 25,645 | 56% |
Total | 16,393,971 | 45,534 |
PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN
The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (29%), followed by Western Cape (22%). Eastern Cape accounted for 15%; Gauteng Province accounted for 8%; Northern Cape accounted for 7%; Free State and Mpumalanga accounted for 6% each; North West accounted for 4%; and Limpopo Province accounted for 2% of today’s new cases.
The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:
Province | Total cases for 28 August 2021 | Adjusted numbers after harmonisation | Updated total cases on 28 August 2021 | New cases on 29 August 2021 | Total cases for 29 August 2021 | Percentage total |
Eastern Cape | 265157 | 23 | 265180 | 1169 | 266349 | 9.6 |
Free State | 146917 | 1 | 146918 | 503 | 147421 | 5.3 |
Gauteng | 903961 | -10 | 903951 | 639 | 904590 | 32.7 |
KwaZulu-Natal | 474026 | -39 | 473987 | 2206 | 476193 | 17.2 |
Limpopo | 119585 | 0 | 119585 | 134 | 119719 | 4.3 |
Mpumalanga | 143575 | 10 | 143585 | 499 | 144084 | 5.2 |
North West | 142495 | 13 | 142508 | 342 | 142850 | 5.2 |
Northern Cape | 80087 | 1 | 80088 | 578 | 80666 | 2.9 |
Western Cape | 481388 | 1 | 481389 | 1670 | 483059 | 17.5 |
Total | 2757191 | 0 | 2757191 | 7740 | 2764931 | 100.0 |
THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE
The total number of cases today (n= 7 740) is lower than yesterday (n= 10 173) and lower than the average number of new cases per day over the 7 preceding days (n= 10 565).
The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 127 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 | 255 | 190,739 | 34,726 | 6,064 |
Public | 409 | 215,141 | 52,289 | 7,026 |
TOTAL | 664 | 405,880 | 87,015 | 13,090 |
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VACCINE UPDATE
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