By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD),reports 24,270 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,019,826. This increase represents a 27.4% positivity rate.
The Gauteng province accounts for the majority of new cases (59%), followed by the Western Cape (11%), North West and KwaZulu-Natal (7% each) provinces.
NICD said a further 303 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 61,332 to date.
A total of 88,738 tests were conducted and 13,298,239 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors since the last report.
Hospital Admissions:
An increase of 627 hospital admissions have been reported in the past 24 hours.
Vaccine Update:
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.
Meanwhile the South African Medical Association threatened on Thursday to take the government to court because scores of new junior doctors cannot find placements despite staff shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SAMA said it was “scandalous” that, during a third wave of infections, 228 medical interns who graduated in March and April were waiting for the government to place them at public hospitals to complete their training.
A spokesperson at the Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment.
“They (the interns) were supposed to all have been placed by today,” Angelique Coetzee, SAMA chairperson.
She said the window was narrowing to find them internships because of how the training cycle works: “By July, if you don’t slot them in, they’ll be sitting at home for a year.”
The department of health also faces allegations of irregular contracts with a public relations firm worth millions of dollars, which last month forced the minister, Zweli Mkhize, to go on special leave.