COVID 19: Infections Among Western Cape Healthcare Workers Soar, over 23k South Africans Test Positive

• South Africa experienced a significant increase in Covid-19 infections on Tuesday with 23 884 people testing positive
• The National Institute of Communicable Diseases announced that there was a dramatic rise in the number of healthcare workers in the Western Cape who have Covid-19
• Gauteng is the province with both the highest number of new Covid-19 infections and the most new vaccinations

CAPE TOWN - On Tuesday (14 December), South Africa experienced a dramatic rise in Covid-19 infections with 23 884 people testing positive.

The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported that 68 437 went for PCR tests on Tuesday and 24 people died from Covid-19.

According to News24, it was reported that 461 healthcare workers in the Western Cape tested positive for Covid-19, which is a significant increase from 37 the previous day.

Read also

COVID 19: Mzansi records 20 deaths in last 24 hours, almost 20 000 new cases

South Africa's current Covid-19 figures

The NICD said that the increase in positive cases shows a 34.9% positivity rate. Gauteng is still in the lead, accounting for 36% of new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, IOL reports. However, the province also saw the most people going for vaccines on Tuesday.

The Northern Cape has the least new cases, with only 333 people testing positive. Only 2 600 people in the province got vaccinated on Tuesday, making the Northern Cape the province with the lowest number of newly vaccinated people.

2 800 people were admitted to private hospitals on Tuesday due to Covid-19. The number of people admitted to public hospitals is 599, pushing the total number of people currently in public hospitals for Covid-19 to 4 095.

Read also

Covid 19 cases soar to nearly 20k new infections, figures now are higher than the first peak

Reactions to South Africa's current Covid-19 statistics

@LeighBlomkamp asked:

"What is the recovery rate and %?"

@Captain_Bavuma said:

"I don't care any more."

@ronrivo shared:

"The people are tired of your false stats."

@maraba_tumi believes:

"Let's keep vaccinating everyone."

@ThaMohMan said:

"Not what the actual data says. Just another ploy to get people to use the jab and not caring whether it's causing irreparable damage to some people. Totally profit over health is all we see."

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane wants vaccinations to be made mandatory

Previously, Briefly News reported that Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane is the latest official to call for the government to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory amid a rise in the number of active cases in the province.

Mabuyane made the utterances during a media briefing at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha on Tuesday, saying the move was necessary after the discovery of the Omicron variant.

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality account for about half of all the active cases in the Eastern Cape, which stood at 6 368 at the time of publication.

Source: Briefly News