By TAMAR KAHN
Health minister Zweli Mkhize has confirmed SA’s first case of the new coronavirus that emerged in China in late December, making SA the seventh country on the continent to do so.
The new respiratory illness, known as 2019-nCov, has affected travel and trade around the world, and wreaked havoc on financial markets.
By March 5, Covid-19 had sickened more than 94,000 people and killed more than 3,200 people across 81 countries and territories, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University
The patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife, the minister said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon. The patient has been self-isolating since Monday, and health authorities are tracing his contacts, he said.
