NICD says next week is key to knowing if SA has past third wave peak, as 596 new deaths are recorded

Groom said on Tuesday that testing rates were on the decline in the past two weeks, which could be “reflective of a decreased need for testing due to decreased infections”.

However, this was also likely because “testing has been limited in certain areas due to the social unrest”.

“Thus, trends in the coming week will be important in confirming whether the peak of the third wave has indeed been reached or not,” Groome said.

Of the new cases, 37% (3,295 cases) were in Gauteng, followed by the Western Cape (19% or 1,675 cases) and KwaZulu-Natal (11% or 1,007 cases).

TimesLIVE