Coronavirus SA: Regions with the fewest – or zero – reported infections

South Africa’s coronavirus cases continue to soar, with almost 9 000 new infections reported on Thursday evening. The figures are grim and the warnings are stark. More than three months into lockdown, the disease has scaled new heights and refuses to subside any time soon.

Places in South Africa without coronavirus, and those with low numbers

Therefore, It’s a curious quirk that South Africa does have some regions which have been able to handle the outbreak of coronavirus diligently. Factors such as low population density and remote locations have a big say in who gets to avoid the worst affects of this pandemic.

We’ve had a pick through the data to find which areas of the country are performing well against the looming threat of COVID-19, and there’s even some good news to report from Gauteng and the Western Cape…

Best performing provinces

Although the available data doesn’t give us a detailed provincial breakdown outside of the Western Cape and Gauteng at this point, there are a handful of districts in the Northern Cape that are free of COVID-19. Just 340 active cases exist in the province, and only one fatality has been reported in NC since the pandemic started.

Both Limpopo (1 286) and Mpumalanga (1 478) account for less than 1% of the total coronavirus infections in SA between them, and their cumulative death rates (17) are under 2% of the national tally.

The least-affected parts of Gauteng

The Tshwane 5 district, compromising of East Lynne, Rayton, Cullinan, Dewagensdrift, Refilwe, Silverton, Onverwacht, is the least affected part of Gauteng, averaging less than 13 active cases per sub-district

Tshwane 7, home to Ekangala, Sokhulumi, Dark City, Zithobeni, Bronkhorstspruit, Kanana, Rethabiseng, has just 91 active cases to report. Midvaal, south of Johannesburg, has less than 200 coronavirus infections.

A district with no coronavirus cases in the Western Cape

The Central Karoo district has just 32 cases registered so far. It’s also home to the only sub-district in the Western Cape that can boast no reported coronavirus patients. The Prince Albert region, at the foot of the Swartberg Mountains, has remained disease-free since the first case was reported here in March.

Laingsburg would have joined Prince Albert but recorded its first and only positive test in June. Kannaland, on the Garden Route, has only recorded eight cases – the best results outside of the Karoo.

The only true ‘coronavirus-free territory’ belonging to South Africa

There are no confirmed cases on the Prince Edward Islands. The outlying landmass is a South African territory, manned by a team of scientists that travel in expeditions. This year’s research has been put on hold, as all field science activities will be scrapped.

Crew and passengers will be quarantined and tested before departure. The islands are roughly 1 800km away from the mainland, so no, this isn’t an escape option.

• All data correct as of 9:20 on Friday 3 July, figures provided by covid19sa and sacoronavirus