SA’s Covid-19 test positivity rate hits highest level since February

The positivity rate of Covid-19 tests in SA rose to their highest level since February on Wednesday, indicating that the number of undetected infections may be rising 

In total 2,032 tests came back positive, with 8.6% of those tested confirmed to be infected with the virus, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement. 

That compares with a positivity rate of 8.7% on February 23 and represented the third straight daily increase, rising from 6.2% on Tuesday. As recently as March 28 the positivity rate was 4.5%.

With many Covid-19 cases going undiagnosed the positivity rate is seen as an indication of how fast the virus is spreading. 

SA, along with neighbouring Botswana, identified the highly infectious Omicron variant in November. It was the first country to suffer a surge of infections as a result of the new variant, with daily records occurring in December. 

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