The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has stated in a statement earlier today that a total of 300 new cases of covid-19 and 12 deaths has been recorded in the past 24 hours in South Africa summing up the number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,921,886, showing a 1.2% positivity rate.

Gauteng and Western cape, however, account for the majority of the new cases today with 19% and 17% rates respectively, Sinenhlanla Jimoh had said in an official statement.

KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 16%; Free State accounted for 14%; Northern Cape accounted for 12%; Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga each accounted for 7% respectively; North West accounted for 5%, and Limpopo accounted for 3% of today’s new cases.

A total of 18 525 613 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

The total number of cases today (300) is lower than yesterday (475) and higher than the average number of cases per day over the seven preceding days (365).

There has been an increase of 9 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

The NICD urged the public to take preventative measures such as getting vaccinated for Covid-19, wearing your mask properly to cover your nose, and gathering in ventilated spaces if you have to attend an event; otherwise avoid unnecessary gatherings. It also urged the public to keep a social distance of one meter or more and to wash their hands regularly through the day with soap and water.