By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said in a statement the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases identified in South Africa is 1 605 252.
This is an increase of 3 221 new cases identified in the last 24 hours.
Mkhize said 44 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 2, Free State 19, Gauteng 13, Kwa-Zulu Natal 3, Limpopo 0, Mpumalanga 0, North West 0, Northern Cape 2 and Western Cape 5 which brings the total to 55 012 deaths.
The cumulative recoveries now stand at 1 520 878, representing a recovery rate of 94,7% and the number of tests conducted to date is 11 010 999. Of these 42 073 tests were conducted since the last report, added Mkhize.
Vaccination Rollout
The number of vaccinations completed under the Sisonke Protocol as at 18.30 today is 455 169.
Meanwhile South African report into excess deaths over the past year suggests more than 133,000 people in the country have died from COVID-19, far more than the official tally of nearly 55,000.
The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has been monitoring excess deaths since May 2020.
In its latest report, published on Wednesday, the SAMRC said South Africa had seen 157,000 excess deaths in the past 12 months and estimated that 85% of them were caused by COVID-19, which means just over 133,000 people have died from the disease.
This compares to an official death toll of 54,968 since the start of the pandemic.
South Africa implemented one of the world’s most restrictive lockdowns from March 2020, when cases were still relatively low, and the SAMRC said increases in weekly deaths due to the pandemic only became evident from May 2020 onwards.
Excess death figures, which some epidemiologists say are the best way to measure the true toll from COVID-19 given that counting methods vary between countries, surpass official COVID-19 death figures in many countries.
Excess deaths are typically defined as the difference between the observed numbers of deaths in specific time periods and expected numbers of deaths in the same time periods.
The SAMRC report said the excess death rate per 100,000 population for South Africa was 258 over the past 12 months. This places the country – on an age-standardised basis – in the top five countries for which excess deaths are measured.
The health ministry declined to comment immediately on the report.