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After two months of hovering at 90%, South Africa’s recovery rate has officially increased to 91.7%.

The country now has 732 414 confirmed total cases, with 1 866 new cases identified since the last report. Of the total amount, Gauteng leads the way with 31.4% of cases. KwaZulu-Natal has 16.9% and the Western Cape 16.2% of the total cases.

There have been 92 new COVID-19 related deaths, with 27 from Eastern Cape, 7 from Gauteng, 17 from the Free State, four from KwaZulu-Natal, 1 from Mpumalanga, 23 from North West, eight from Northern Cape and five from Western Cape. This brings the total number of COVID-19 related deaths to 19 677.

Our recoveries now stand at 671 579 which translates to a recovery rate of 91,7%.

South Africa is currently in 13th place worldwide for the most confirmed coronavirus infections. The top 10 countries include The United States of America, India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Columbia and Mexico.

Chief Director of Disaster Management, Colin Deiner, and Western Cape Department of Health’s Public Health Specialist, Professor Mary-Ann Davies joined Premier Alan Winde’s weekly digital press conference to provide an update on the province’s disaster management preparedness and COVID-19 health response respectively.

“In terms of our latest seven-day-rolling average, we have not seen a further increase in cases of COVID-19 overall, with the number of cases marginally declining since last week,” said Winde. “However, they have not yet come down to the same level as they were in September. We must therefore remain vigilant to prevent these ‘bushfires’ from becoming the ‘wildfires’ that might undermine our recovery efforts.”

Other key points from their discussion include:

– The province’s hospitalisation and mortality data remain stable at this point, but there has been small growth in private sector hospitalisations which will be monitored

– Those increase in cases in specific geo-graphic areas are being tracked very carefully through regular huddle reports

– Those increase in cases that have been witnessed were largely people under the age of 30

– The province’s surveillance and containment strategy are critical over the next 18-24 months. In collaboration with the South African Medical Research Council, the province is now using waste-water treatment plants to check for COVID-19 in the City of Cape Town.

– The Western Cape’s natural deaths are within the bracket expected for this time of the year, as set out in South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).

“This is going to be extended to areas outside of the metro. We have seen the spike witnessed at the Athlone waste-water treatment plant come down, but not completely,” added Winde.

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