South Africa continue the drop in countries’ withe the most Covid-19 infections, moving from 7th to 8th.
The country, which is the epicentre of the virus on the continent, has 643,431 confirmed Covid-19 cases, the highest in Africa, and 15,168 deaths to date.
However, in recent times, infections in the country have been decreasing. And on Worldometers, a data source that tracks real-time statistics on several topics including Covid-19, South Africa dropped from 4th to 8th within two weeks.
South Africa’s health ministry reported 1,990 new infections on Wednesday, a significant drop from the more than 11,000 positive cases that were reported daily in the past few months.
The recovery rate now stands at 88.7%, meaning that 569,935 people have so far recovered. It is well above the global average of 64.5%.
Health minister, Zweli Mkhize, said if people continue to adhere to precautionary measures to avoid a resurgence in Covid-19 infections, the country will soon reduce the restrictions.
“The sooner we can get to level 1 the better, the sooner we have a normal economy the better, it is better for the country. We are hoping South Africans will understand that to get there, we have to make sure we are just as cautious in level 2 so that there is no resurgence,” said Mkhize.
Mkhize told Radio Islam on Tuesday that SA had passed the surge and that the worst was over.
He, however, cautioned that it is too early to celebrate, saying that it could lead to a flare-up in cases.