South Africa on Thursday reported the first confirmed case of the deadly coronavirus in the country, reported Reuters.
“The National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive,” the health ministry said in a statement.
A 38-year-old man who recently traveled to Italy with his wife has tested positive for the (COVID-19) virus in KwaZulu-Natal. The man and his wife were part of a group of 10 people who returned back to South Africa on Sunday, March 1, 2020.
The patient went to a general practitioner on March 3 with fever, headache, malaise, sore throat and cough, the Health Minister of South Africa, Zweli Mkhize said. A nurse took a swab, and it was delivered to a lab.
The patient has self-isolated since March 3. The couple has two children. The doctor who treated the patient is also in self-isolation. The health ministry has also sent a tracer team to KwaZulu-Natal to identify people who might have been in contact with the man and the doctor.
After the first coronavirus case was confirmed, South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa ensured the people that the country will handle the case with all the seriousness, care and transparency required.
While addressing the press at the Waterkloof Airforce base in Tshwane, Ramaphosa stressed the need for citizens not to panic despite the news that the rampaging epidemic had finally breached the nation’s borders. He urged the people to get immediate medical help if they showed symptoms of Covid-19.
The South African president warned that the coronavirus might turn into a “national crisis” and have a huge impact on a number of things including the country’s economy and tourism. He called out the people to be prepared for any situation.
Meanwhile, the government’s information department also announced that two South Africans working on the cruise ship Diamond Princess who had initially tested positive for the virus, “have now tested negative and will shortly be making their way home.”
