SA reports over 10,000 new Covid-19 cases
South Africa has identified more than 10,000 cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, the highest number since January.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, announced Wednesday that the country has identified 10,017 new cases.
The first time the country reported more than 10,000 daily cases in 2022 was on January 5 with 11,106 Covid-19 cases.
This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3,862,165. This increase corresponds to a positivity rate of 25.3%.
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (39%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (21%). Western Cape accounted for 17%; Eastern Cape and Free State each accounted for 6%; Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 3%; The North Cape accounted for 2%; and Limpopo accounted for 1% of today’s new cases.
The country also recorded 50 deaths, and of those, 10 deaths occurred in the last 24-48 hours. Cumulative Covid-19 deaths to date are 100,609.
24,765,642 tests were conducted in both the public and private sectors.
There has been an increase of 164 hospitalizations in the last 24 hours.
France lifts Covid-19 mask rule on public transport on May 16Face masks will no longer be required on trains, planes and subways in France from May 16, the health minister said on Wednesday, lifting one of the last remaining hygiene measures imposed since the pandemic began in 2020.
“From Monday, May 16, masks will no longer be compulsory on all public transport,” said Olivier Veran after a weekly cabinet meeting.
“Wearing a mask is still recommended,” he added, but the rule was “no longer appropriate” given the sharp drop in Covid-19 cases recently.
France began relaxing its strict face mask rules in February after a spike in cases over the winter, but they were still required in workplaces or schools for weeks before infections continued to fall.
Masks will still be required to enter hospitals, as well as a health pass showing proof of Covid-19 vaccination or vaccination, and people who test positive will still be required to self-isolate for at least seven days.
On Tuesday, 56,449 new cases, mostly of the Omicron variant, were reported in the last 24 hours, despite a concerted vaccination campaign that has seen 79.3 percent of the population get all the doses they need, according to the health ministry.
In March, authorities began offering a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine to people aged 80 and older, and Veran said a new booster campaign for the general population may be needed in the fall, depending on which new variants emerge.
France had recorded almost 147,000 Covid 19 deaths since the outbreak began.
Additional coverage from AFP
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