[imagesource: Getty Images]

Yesterday, South Africa’s confirmed coronavirus cases ticked over the 100 000 mark.

101 590, to be precise, with 1 991 deaths and 53 444 recoveries.

In case you’ve lost track of the global count, there are now just under 9,2 million confirmed cases worldwide, with 474 467 deaths and 4,94 million recoveries.

The US and Brazil are the only two countries with more than a million confirmed cases.

Here at home, we know that we’re headed for our peak in the coming weeks (although this differs by province), and the spike in the infection rate is real cause for concern.

One stat that should really worry us all – it took 95 days for South Africa to reach 50 000 confirmed cases, and only another 14 to hit 100 000.

Pause, and read that again.

This News24 graphic, compiled by Rudi Louw, puts things into perspective:

Of course, you can’t show a graphic like that without mentioning the increase in the amount of daily testing, although the effectiveness of that testing is being hindered by the fact that there is now a massive backlog in results due to shortages of extraction kits and laboratory testing capabilities.

That being said, it took just shy of 950 000 tests to find the first 50 000 cases, and less than half of that (437 092 tests), to identify the second 50 000 cases.

Clearly, as lockdown measures are being eased, the need for the public to practice safer physical distancing and hygiene measures has never been greater.

Be a good person and wear a mask in public.

News24 has more graphics related to the latest COVID-19 stats here.

[source:news24]