By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said in a statement that the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa is 1 504 588 with 792 new cases identified since the last report.
The cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 8 907 857 with 15 342 new tests recorded since the last report.
Mkhize said a further 97 deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 7, Free State 30, Gauteng 15, Kwa-Zulu Natal 8, Limpopo 0, Mpumalanga 7, North West 0, Northern Cape 8 and Western Cape 22 which brings the total to 49 150 deaths.
The minister added that the recoveries now stand at 1 413 566, representing a recovery rate of 93,9%.
Vaccination Rollout:
The number of health care workers vaccinated under the Sisonke Protocol is 23 059 as of 6 pm 22 February 2021.
Meanwhile the department of health is committed to seeing all healthcare professionals irrespective of where they work, being vaccinated.
“This is critical and is aligned with the national prioritisation framework for phase one of the national vaccine roll-out programme.”
The department said the collaboration with the private sector culminated in the first round of private sector healthcare worker vaccinations being delivered on 20 February 2021.
Despite limited planning time and change to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the programme has already vaccinated more than 3 000 healthcare workers from the private sector.
“This was only made possible through close cooperation between the department of health officials, site staff, private sector leadership and the Sisonke Programme staff.”
The department said the response of private healthcare professionals has been heartening and exceeded expectations across several sites.
“The confidence by healthcare workers in the vaccine and the protection it offers is evident in the queues and higher than planned demand from doctors and nurses across the country.”
The department said the demand from healthcare workers is mirrored in many other countries including the United Kingdom and India and is not unique to South Africa.