South Africa has recorded 414 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total cases to 2 916 593.
25 related deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total fatalities to 88 612 to date.
A total of 22,964 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs with 414 new cases, which represents a 1.8% positivity rate. A further 25 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 88,612 to date. Read more here: https://t.co/xDWUTsRVXL pic.twitter.com/Di23eqDCpe
— NICD (@nicd_sa) October 17, 2021
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Herd immunity
Senior Researcher at the CSIR, Ridhwaan Suliman says the current low numbers of coronavirus positive cases in South Africa is more likely linked to some level of herd immunity that has developed after the devastating third wave.
Around a quarter of adults have been fully vaccinated in South Africa. The third wave was driven by the highly infectious Delta variant.
The test positivity rate remains low at this stage and the death toll from COVID 19 continues to decline.
Dr Suliman has cautioned that a fourth wave of coronavirus is very likely towards the end of the year.
Dr Suliman’s weekly COVID-19 update: