Author name: Pii Digital

Following the expansion of national-wide routine testing for SARS-CoV-2 in public and private laboratories, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, will start to transition to functioning as a reference and surveillance laboratory for COVID-19. This will include resolving and troubleshooting indeterminate and other unusual results as […]

Since the activation of the first COVID-19 public hotline number, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, has recorded high call volumes from the public hotline wherein a total of 324 062 calls have been received to date.  As such, we have added two additional hotline numbers to

COVID-19 cases in South Africa continue to rise, with private and public laboratories now fully equipped to test for SARS-CoV-2, the causative pathogen for COVID-19. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, is closely monitoring the status of COVID-19 in the country and as of 17 March

Following the declaration of a National Disaster for COVID-19 in South Africa by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the National Institute for Communicable (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), continues to enhance outbreak response activities to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Since the commencement of the outbreak, the NICD, the

While we continue to see an increase in COVID-19 positive cases in South Africa, there is currently no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 is circulating in South Africa’s population; however, the status of COVID-19 transmission is increasingly likely to shift based on trends found in other parts of the world. We call on all South

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, continues to receive samples of COVID-19 suspected cases and has been following up on all possible leads to track down COVID-19 cases reported in the country. We confirm that, as of 14 March 2020, 14 new imported COVID-19 cases have

There has been an increase in the number of imported COVID-19 cases in South Africa since the first confirmed case. The identification of additional imported cases of COVID-19 is not unexpected and is likely related to increasing numbers of cases in other parts of the world, leading to increased importation risks. The National Institute for

As of 12 March 2020, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), confirms that 3  new positive cases have been identified. This takes the number of coronavirus positive patients to 16.  The new positive cases comprise of a  38-year-old male from Turkey who is visiting his