South Africa confirms first coronavirus case

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South Africa confirms first coronavirus case

By Sylvania Ambani March 5th, 2020 1 min read

(200205) -- WUHAN, Feb. 5, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Patients infected with the novel coronavirus are seen at a makeshift hospital converted from an exhibition center in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 5, 2020. The first makeshift hospital converted from an exhibition center in China's epidemic-hit Wuhan city began accepting patients Wednesday. The hospital can provide about 1,600 beds to infected patients. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)

A 38-year-old man in South Africa has tested positive for coronavirus. In a statement, South Africa Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says the man was part of a group of 10 people who arrived in back to South Africa from a trip to Italy on March 1.

He then consulted a private general practitioner on March 3, with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough.

Samples were then taken to a lab. The patient has been self-isolating since Tuesday.

“Fellow South Africans. This morning, Thursday, March 5, 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 travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on March 1, 2020. 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. The tracer team has been deployed to KwaZulu-Natal with epidemiologists and clinicians from NICD. The doctor has been self-isolated as well,” said Dr Mkhize.

South Africa becomes the second country in sub-Saharan Africa to have a confirmed case of a COVID-19 case, after Nigeria.