SA records lowest Covid-19 positivity rate since start of the pandemic
South Africa recorded a Covid-19 positivity rate of 1.4% over the past week – the lowest average rate at which people tested positive since the virus was first detected in South Africa in March 2020.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases says in its latest report that in week 43, that the Covid-19 testing rate decreased in all provinces except in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Gauteng and Limpopo provinces, where it remained unchanged.
“In week 43 the percentage testing positive was 1.4%, which was 0.4% lower than the previous week and the lowest since the start of the epidemic,” reads the report.
The latest statistics further show that the testing rate was highest in the Western Cape and lowest in Limpopo.
When it comes to the latest cases, there were a further 319 new infections reported in the 24 hours up to Thursday evening.
The latest increase represents a 1% positivity rate.
An additional 31 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89 251.
The majority of new cases come from KwaZulu-Natal with 20%, followed by Gauteng Province with 18% and the Free State province accounted for 17%.
There has been an increase of 32 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours, with 3 816 people currently admitted in both public and private facilities.
On the vaccine front, 152 049 Covid-19 vaccines were administered on Thursday.
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