Covid-19 positivity rate drops in SA to 'acceptable' 5%
New Covid-19 cases in South Africa saw a significant drop on Sunday with the positivity rate falling below 5%, the lowest since the start of the third wave.
In May 2020, The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued guidelines stating that governments should see positivity rates of 5% and below for at least 14 days before relaxing social distancing measures or reopening fully.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reports that there were 967 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours leading up to Sunday evening.
The institute says South Africa has now officially exited the third wave according to the current definition.
“The national 7-day moving average of daily case numbers, positivity rate and testing rate continue to decrease, with sustained decreases seen in all provinces,” said the NICD in a statement.
A further 51 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 87 052.
KwaZulu-Natal has shown the most new infections, with 272 reported in the last 24 hours, followed by the Eastern Cape with 169 new cases.
Limpopo is the lowest with just 10 new cases.
There has been an increase of 56 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours with just 7 172 people currently receiving treatment in both public and private facilities.
On the vaccine front, 9 419 vaccines have been administered on Sunday.
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