South Africa has recorded four new cases of Covid-19, one of them being the first instance of local transmission and bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 16.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says a 38-year old man from Durban, who lives in Turkey, was visiting his family in South Africa. The man had travelled to the United Kingdom and turned to South Africa on March 7.
The second case was a 27-year old woman from Mpumalanga province who had travelled to the United States, also returning to South Africa on March 7.
A 43-year old man from Johannesburg also tested positive after travelling to New York via Dubai.
The Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize has revised the number of positive Coronavirus cases in SA to 16. He says the patient in the Free State who initially tested positive is in fact negative. He is retracting that part of his statement with an apology.
The World Health Organisation has declared the coronavirus a pandemic, as the number of confirmed cases approach 120,000 worldwide.
It said that in the days and weeks ahead, it expected to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher.
