South Africa Confirms First Case Of Coronavirus

The South African Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that a 38-year-old South African man, who recently returned with his wife from Italy, has tested positive for coronavirus.

In a statement on Thursday, Mkhize said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of Covid-19 has tested positive.

“The patient is a 38-year-old male who traveled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on March 1.”

“The patient consulted a private general practitioner on March 3, with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough. The practice nurse took swabs and delivered it to the lab,” he said.

Mkhize said the patient has been self-isolating since March 3.

“The couple also has two children. The Emergency Operating Centre (EOC) has identified the contacts by interviewing the patient and doctor.

“The tracer team has been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal with epidemiologists and clinicians from NICD. The doctor has been self-isolated as well,” he said.

This is the first case of coronavirus reported in the country. This means that South Africa is the sixth African country to record a case after Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria and Senegal.