The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) are supporting seven local companies, organisations and researchers to produce locally developed reagents and test kits for Covid-19.
According to a report carried by Businesstech, the support is meant to urgently strengthen South Africa’s ability and capacity to identify active cases of Covid-19 within minutes, to allow for more effective contact tracing and quarantining.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 are now 394 948. An increase of 13 150 new cases in the past 24 hours.
572 COVID-19 related deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of deaths in a single day thus far. It brings the national death toll to 5 940.
Breakdown of global Cases
| Region | Cases (as of 22 July 2020) |
| America | 7 811 127 |
| Europe | 3 124 701 |
| South-East Asia | 1 520 780 |
| Eastern Mediterranean | 1 414 462 |
| Africa | 623 851 |
| Western Pacific | 269 594 |
| Total | 14 765 256 |
Source: WHO
South Africa Statistics:
Provincial Breakdown – Positive Cases
| PROVINCE | CASES (AS OF 22 JULY 2020) | % TOTAL |
| Eastern Cape | 67 818 | 17,2 |
| Free State | 12 332 | 3,1 |
| Gauteng | 144 582 | 36,6 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 50 521 | 12,8 |
| Limpopo | 5 712 | 1,4 |
| Mpumalanga | 8 286 | 2,1 |
| North West | 15 073 | 3,8 |
| Northern Cape | 2 727 | 0,7 |
| Western Cape | 87 847 | 22,2 |
| Unknown | 50 | 0,0 |
| Total | 394 948 | 100 |
Provincial Deaths & Recoveries
| PROVINCE | DEATHS | RECOVERIES |
| Eastern Cape | 1 345 | 49 938 |
| Free State | 62 | 1 315 |
| Gauteng | 1 156 | 77 397 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 477 | 18 067 |
| Limpopo | 33 | 2 518 |
| Mpumalanga | 52 | 3 435 |
| North West | 48 | 3 914 |
| Northern Cape | 15 | 1 100 |
| Western Cape | 2 752 | 71 491 |
| Total | 5 940 | 2 29 175 |
Source: sacoronavirus.co.za
** If you think you have been exposed to the COVID-19, please call the government’s 24-hour hotline on 0800 029 999 or visit https://sacoronavirus.co.za/ for more information
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