COVID-19 latest: SA caseload shoots past 500 000-mark

The latest COVID-19 figures have been released and South Africa today officially passed the 500 000-mark for confirmed cases. To put this in perspective, Africa’s total caseload, as of 31 July, stood at 929 969.

Not only does South Africa’s caseload account for more than half of Africa’s caseload, we also have the highest death toll on the continent: xxx out of Africa’s total toll of 19 693.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed on Saturday 1 August that SA’s cumulative caseload increased by 10 107 along with 148 deaths.

COVID-19 in South Africa: Saturday 1 August 2020

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Saturday that SA’s cumulative caseload now stands at 503 290, which is an increase of 10 107 since Friday 31 July, when the total confirmed cases stood at 493 183.

Thankfully, 342 461 patients have recovered. As per Mkhize’s report, the recovery rate is now 68%. However, the minister also announced that a further 148 deaths were reported. This brings the death toll in South Africa to a total of 8 153.

The deaths recorded per province during the last 24 hours are as follows: 36 from Eastern Cape, 40 from Gauteng, 41 from KwaZulu Natal, 24 from Western Cape and 7 from Northern Cape.

We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased.

Minister Mkhize.

A total of 42 450 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours: 20 397 from the private sector and 22 053 from the public sector. In total, 3 001 985 tests have been conducted since the novel coronavirus first broke out.

Breakdown of new confirmed COVID-19 cases

New cases, deaths and recoveries by province

The confirmed COVID-19 cases per province is as follows:

Province	Total Cases	Deaths	Recoveries
Gauteng	178 119	2 075	126 784
Western Cape	96 189	3 074	80 750
KwaZulu Natal	79 607	844	35 358
Free State	22 308	154	8 897
Eastern Cape	78 782	1 744	66 543
Limpopo	8 879	67	5 044
Mpumalanga	14 681	78	8 124
North West	19 714	81	8 444
Northern Cape	4 961	36	1 517
Unallocated	50	0	0

Africa CDC receives COVID-19 test kits from Germany

As reported by Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the German Epidemic Preparedness Team donated extraction and test kits, capable of conducting 1.3 million tests.

A first batch was handed over to the Africa CDC by Heiko Nitzschke, from Chargé d’Affaires the at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The donation is to support the implementation of the Africa Joint Continental Strategy.

This will hopefully prevent severe illness and death from COVID-19 infection in African Union Member States and minimise social disruption and the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

Global COVID-19 news and statistics

There are currently 17 901 546 confirmed cases in the world, along with 685 786 deaths and 11 264 274 recoveries. At the time of publishing, there are 5 951 486 active cases: 5 885 885 with a mild infection, and 65 601 in critical condition.

Top 10 hardest hit countries

	Country	Confirmed cases	New cases	Death toll	Recoveries	Active cases	Critical cases
1	USA	4 735 253	29 364	157 271	2 338 612	2 239 370	18 848
2	Brazil	2 675 676	9 378	92 789	1 884 051	698 836	8 318
3	India	1 751 836	54 782	37 403	1 146 828	567 605	8 944
4	Russia	845 443	5 462	14 058	646 524	184 861	2 300
5	SA

As of Friday 31 July 2020, more than 900 000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been identified on the African continent, along with approximately 550 000 recoveries and 19 000 deaths.

Also read — Western Cape estimated to lose 167 000 jobs and R720m worth of revenue during 2020