Staff Reporter
Mangaung Metro has continued to record the highest numbers of new daily cases of COVID-19 in the Free State with the latest figure standing at 207.
As of Wednesday, the province recorded 655 new cases over a 24-hour cycle and the metro together with Fezile Dabi district were the only areas in the province with over 200 daily cases.
There were 212 new cases in Fezile Dabi while Thabo Mofutsanyana had 115, Lejweleputswa 111 and Xhariep 10.
Free State health spokesperson Mondli Mvambi recently said the department was worried daily figures in the province had remained above 500 for over a week, a figure viewed too high given its small population size of nearly 2.9 million.
“Throughout this past week, the Free State has had almost consistent new cases that are in the region of plus or minus 500, which although it seems low in comparison to other provinces . . . it remains high for a small province as the Free State,” he said in a statement.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province now stands at 127 582 with 109 963 or 86 percent recoveries.
The proportion of confirmed cases among those aged below 20 years is 12 percent or 15 893 in total.
The province has recorded 5 679 deaths with most of them reported in Thabo Mofutsanyana district.
Most of those who have succumbed to the disease in the province are aged 45 years and older – this is about 5 004 people.
More females continue to contract the disease as 59 percent or 74 904 have tested positive but 42 percent or 2 355 of the deaths were recorded among males.