The National Institute of Communicable Diseases has confirmed that the first case of the novel coronavirus Covid-19 has been detected in South Africa.<\/p>\n
“We confirm that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive,” the group said.<\/p>\n
“This is not as a failure but as a success of our health systems to be able to detect and rapidly identify cases. The case has been self-isolated at home since the onset of symptoms and is receiving treatment.”<\/p>\n
According to the department of health, the patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The practice nurse took swabs and delivered it to the lab. The patient has been self-isolating since March 3, the department said.<\/p>\n
Globally, more than 95,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus, the vast majority of them in China where the virus originated late last year. Over 3,000 people have died.<\/p>\n