The National Institute for Communicable Diseases on Wednesday refuted "false information" posted on Twitter that a person had died from the novel coronavirus in the Western Cape.
"We can confirm that there has been no positive case of COVID-19 nor a death so far in South Africa, said NICD senior communications' manager Sinenhlanhla Jimoh in a statement.
"Furthermore, we would like to ask the public to disregard rumours of this nature and discourage the spreading of false information.
Jimoh said should there be a positive case, official information will be communicated by the National Department of Health, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the NICD.
South Africa remained on high alert for any suspected cases that could be imported through its borders, she said, but to date, no positive cases had been detected.
She said they had conducted 63 tests for COVID-19 and all came back negative.
The National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) housed at that they remained activated and continued to receive information from the clinician’s 24-hour hotline and the general public number said Jimoh.
"We would like to remind the public of the general public hotline number, 011 386 2000, which operates from Monday to Friday, 08h00 to 16h00.
- African News Agency (ANA)
