Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospital admissions on the decline, but don't get complacent: NICD

New Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalisations are on the decline - but this is no time to get complacent.

This is according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) as it released SA's latest coronavirus statistics on Wednesday.

There were 2,967 new infections identified in the previous 24 hours across SA, taking the total number of cases to 2,889,298 to date. The new cases were at a positivity rate of 7%.

“The national seven-day moving average of daily case numbers, positivity rate and testing rate continue to decrease, with sustained decreases seen in all provinces,” the NICD said.

But, said Dr Michelle Groome, head of the NICD's public health, surveillance and response division, this didn't mean that South Africans should relax.

“Gauteng, Limpopo and North West have exited the third wave, according to the current wave definitions. There are also sustained decreases in Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths in all provinces. These trends are encouraging but we should not let our guard down yet,” she said.

The latest statistics showed that there were 124 Covid-19 related deaths recorded across SA in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed fatalities to date to 86,500 to date.

In terms of hospital admissions, there are now fewer than 8,000 people admitted - the lowest since the onslaught of the third wave. There were 142 new admissions in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of people admitted to 7,844.

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