South Africa conducted 50 377 COVID-19 tests on Sunday, with 15 465 new cases detected.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the majority of new cases in the past 24 hours were from KwaZulu-Natal (4 135), followed by Gauteng (3 582), Western Cape (2 849), Eastern Cape (1 303) and Free State (1 104), while the rest of the provinces recorded less than a thousand new infections.
The latest figures represent a positivity rate of 30.7%, pushing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 308 074.
In addition, a further three people succumbed to complications related to the respiratory disease, bringing the death toll to 90 348 since the outbreak.
Meanwhile, 7 951 people are currently receiving treatment in hospital, 87 of which were admitted since the last reporting cycle.
According to the Department of Health, there are 5 317 administered vaccines, 1 235 of which were given to children.
This brings the total number of distributed vaccines to 27 521 386, while 15 349 159 or 38.57% adults are now fully jabbed.
The department’s data show that 832 571 doses have been given to children between the ages of 12 and 17.
The number of immunocompromised people who have received an additional dose now stands at 7 696.
Globally, as of 17 December 2021, there have been 271 963 258 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5 331 019 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation. – SAnews.gov.za
