In March 2020, South Africa confirmed its first case of COVID-19. Seven months later the country had just over 650 000 people who had tested positive for the new coronavirus. Here’s what our local epidemic has looked like over time.
Since South Africa reported its first case of COVID-19 in March, Bhekisisa has been taking daily statements from the national health department and turning them into easy-to-understand graphics.
Initially, these maps were a way to help people visualise the spread of the virus throughout the country and see how the epidemic was growing. Then in July, as South Africa’s outbreak was changing and case numbers were dropping, we decided to introduce a new element and showcase the number of active cases in the country.
This resource is designed for you to scroll through and get a quick snapshot of what South Africa’s epidemic looked like on a specific day. You can also use it to track how the outbreak has evolved over time.
South Africa: COVID-19 Active Cases from 6 July 2020 to 19 June 2022
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”44″ display=”basic_imagebrowser”]We’ve included a downloadable spreadsheet, which we designed to help calculate the number of active cases. The spreadsheet contains data originally shared by the health department in daily press releases.
Now instead of sifting through hundreds of PDF documents, you can filter through the numbers with ease and pull out specific areas of interest — for example, focusing on changes or the number of active cases in a specific province.
South Africa: COVID-19 Cumulative Cases from 5 March – 6 July 2020
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”45″ display=”basic_imagebrowser”]- Looking for machine-readable data? Check out this dashboard from our partner MediaHack which includes case data and testing numbers.
[WATCH] How South Africa’s epidemic began
