Grade 7 students at Arcadia Primary school in Bonteheuwel return to school today after a 2 month long break as a result of Covid-19 and the lockdown. File picture: Brendan Magaar/African News Agency (ANA)
It has been almost two years of Covid-19 infections, deaths and lockdowns. South Africans have experienced three waves so far and is currently in the throes of a fourth wave of infections.
Over the two years, we have seen a rise and fall in Covid-19 cases. We take a look at the cases at the start of lockdown in 2020, a year ago and a month ago as well as present day cases.
March 2020
In a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the first lockdown in South Africa for 21 days. Ramaphosa announced on 23 March that the nation will go into lockdown for 21 days from March 27 to April 16, 2020. Of course, we know (and knew) that the lockdown was not going to last just three weeks.
On March 27, 2020, there were a total of 1170 Covid-19 cases reported. At the time, there was also one death related to Covid-19.
March was the start of the first Covid-19 wave in South Africa. It lasted nine months until November.
There were a total of 1 353 confirmed cases in March. There were five deaths and 31 recovered.
December 2020
By December 2020, the National Institute For Communicable Diseases Of South Africa (NICD) said there was, “clear evidence of an exponential rise in transmission”, calling it a “cause for serious concern”.
On December 9, a cumulative total of 836 764 cases were reported with 8 166 new cases.
On this day, there were 173 more Covid-19 related deaths, bringing the total to 22 747 deaths.
November 2021
A month prior, on November 10, the NICD reported 305 new Covid-19 cases in South Africa. This increase represented a 0.9% positivity rate. A further 48 Covid-19 related deaths were reported.
December 9, 2021
On December 3, 2021, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla confirmed that South Africa had officially entered the fourth wave. There was a sharp increase in cases in this month so far.
On December 9, the NICD reported a total of 22 391 new Covid-19 cases. This increase represented a 29.8% positivity rate.
As per the National Department of Health, a further 22 Covid-19 related deaths were reported, bringing total fatalities to 90 060 to date.
The government urged the public to get vaccinated, maintain social distancing and avoid large gatherings.
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