(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s daily coronavirus cases almost halved amid a fourth wave of infections fueled by the omicron variant.
The country recorded 8,515 new infections in the past 24 hours, data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases showed Monday. That’s a 44% drop from a day earlier and the lowest number of daily infections since Dec. 6.
The cases were recorded with 29.9% of Covid-19 tests analyzed coming back positive, down from 30.7% a day earlier, the institute said.
At 29%, the majority of new cases were recorded in the coastal KwaZulu-Natal province, a popular destination for domestic tourists during the current summer holiday period, followed by the economic hub of Gauteng at 22%, the data showed. The two provinces make up almost 50% of South Africa’s economic output.
Covid-19 hospital admissions rose to 8,515 from 7,915 a day earlier, the NICD said in a separate report. The number of patients in need of intensive care remained unchanged at 6.7%.
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