Riots hit Covid-19 testing, as just 380 cases are recorded in KZN in 24 hours

There were just 387 new Covid-19 cases recorded in KwaZulu-Natal in the past 24 hours, as the consequences of the ongoing looting and violence continued.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Wednesday: "With the current disruption of some Covid-19 testing sites in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, , individuals who have Covid-19 symptoms who can’t get to testing facilities are asked to try to limit the transmission of the virus by taking precautions and to quarantine if possible."

The NICD figures from the past week show the devastating impact of the violent riots and looting on Covid-19 testing.

On Friday, the first day of the violence in KZN, there were 1,684 new infections confirmed. This increased to 1,841 on Saturday, before it dropped to 1,520 on Sunday, to 1,025 on Monday and down to 873 on Tuesday.

The NICD said on Wednesday night that there were 17,489 new Covid-19 infections across SA in the past 24 hours. There were also 453 Covid-19 related deaths reported, bringing fatalities to 65,595 to date.

Gauteng accounted for most of the new cases, with 7,981 infections. The Western Cape confirmed 3,027 new cases.

There had also been an increase of 869 admissions in the past 24 hours, meaning that there are now 16,286 people being treated for Covid-19 in the country's hospitals.

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