Cape Town – The number of new Covid-19 cases in the country has dropped to 14 880 from 18 503 yesterday.
The cumulative number of Covid-19 cases identified in South Africa is 1 311 686, Dr Zweli Mkhize said in a statement on Friday.
A total of 18 555 new cases were reported on Wednesday, after 13 105 new cases were reported on Tuesday. This follows a peak of 21 862 last Friday.
After 712 Covid-19 deaths were recorded yesterday, the number of fatalities in the country dropped to 615: Eastern Cape 100, Free State 41, Gauteng 99, KwaZulu-Natal 189, Mpumalanga 16, Northern Cape 9 and Western Cape 161. This brings the total number of deaths to 36 467
The number of recoveries now stand at 1 062 690, representing a recovery rate of 80.9%.
The cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 7 498 780, with 65 209 new tests conducted since the last report.
On Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa allayed the fears of many South Africans, saying the Treasury would have the money to fund the much-anticipated Covid-19 vaccine.
“There is no way we can say, when it comes to saving the lives of South Africans, that we don’t have the money. The money will be there. It has to be there to save the lives of South Africans. That one will be my bottom line,” said Ramaphosa.
A campaign launched by emerging civil society group the C19 People’s Coalition is calling for the support of South Africans to ensure that access to and allocation of the Covid-19 vaccine is free and fair.
In a statement on Friday, it announced it had launched the People’s Vaccine Campaign, which seeks to mobilise South Africans to help ensure equitable vaccine access and allocation.
“There is a danger that elites, powerful or dominant medical schemes, private health-care providers and other corporate interests will undermine access through growing disparities in our two-tiered health-care system and exclude the voices of workers who belong to state medical schemes, all health workers, front-line workers, working-class communities and civil society.”
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