Northern Cape Province of South Africa recorded the highest incidence of new cases of COVID-19 among all nine provinces during the past few weeks, its top official said Wednesday, after a “consistent” increase in the cases led to the closure of schools for disinfection and isolation in May. Saul said the province’s weekly incidence was 171 cases per 100,000 people, the highest in the country, followed by Free State with 105 cases per 100,000 and Gauteng with 71 cases per 100,000. Northern Cape is currently one of the four provinces that are already in the third wave, alongside Free State, North West and Gauteng. The premier also said that over the past few weeks, the province has greatly improved the testing capacity. As of June 1, the least populated province in South Africa recorded a total of 51,041 cases, equal to 3.1 percent of the national tally, but its 8,269 active cases is the second highest in the country, after Gauteng’s 15,704 cases.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 02, 2021 17:03 UTC