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Weekly COVID cases drop 9%, older people still the most infected

The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Africa has decreased by 9.1% week on week, with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) saying 3 187 new cases were detected during the week of 19 November.

News24 reports that Limpopo had the most new cases (15.8%), followed by Gauteng with 14.7%, the Western Cape recording 13.2% of all new cases, KwaZulu-Natal 12.2% and the Free State 12.1%. All other provinces recorded less than 10% of the new cases.

Older populations continue to test positive in higher proportions, with 23.6% of the new cases being in the 80-plus age group. The 50-54 age group had a positivity rate of 17.7% and the 75-79 age cohort 17.5%.

The 5-9 age group had the lowest number of new cases with 0.7 cases per 100 000 people. New weekly admissions stand at 256, which translates to a 36% decrease from the situation last week.

By 23 November, there were 17 people on ventilators in hospitals, while 75 others were on oxygen machines. There are 592 people receiving treatment for COVIF-19 in private and public hospitals. Gauteng has the highest number of hospital admissions at 245, and KwaZulu-Natal 176.

 

News24 article – Covid-19: Weekly rate of new cases drops by 9%, almost 600 people in hospital (Open access)

 

See more from MedicalBrief archives:

 

South Africans still dying but COVID vaccine drive slows to a trickle

 

COVID cases on the rise in the Western Cape

 

DoH is stuck with high hopes and scores of millions of COVID-19 doses

 

Fewer COVID deaths predicted for Africa this year – WHO

 

 

 

 

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