South Africa now has 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19 coronavirus, first in W Cape

According to an update by the South African Government on Tuesday, six more people have tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus in South Africa, bringing the total to 13.

Four have been identified in Gauteng, another in KwaZulu-Natal, and a first case for the Western Cape.

UPDATE: 6 more cases of #Coronavirus confirmed, with Western Cape confirming its first case pic.twitter.com/ojL4mJ3KQh

— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) March 11, 2020

All six patients returned from European countries this month, ranging from Italy to Germany.

The Western Cape case travelled to Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Turkey, returning to South Africa on 9 March.

All patients are aged between 33 and 57.

The Minister of Health wishes to inform the public that 6 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed. This takes the total number of coronavirus positive patients in South Africa to 13.#COVID19 #coronavirusupdate #coronavirus

— Department of Health (@HealthZA) March 11, 2020

“All the patients have now been advised,” read the statement issued by health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize.

“Those who are symptomatic have started receiving treatment. Some of these patients are already in hospital while some, specifically those who are asymptomatic, are in self quarantine.”

Mkhize confirmed that “contact tracing” — finding those people who came into contact with the patients — has also started.

Western Cape premier Alan Winde is set to brief the province at 11am.

First confirmed case of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) in the Western Cape. Premier @alanwinde will be briefing the media at 11:00 which you can watch live on his Facebook page. https://t.co/9ZxCy7vzP6 #CoronaVirusUpdate #CoronavirusInSA pic.twitter.com/5ZlrXXsaln

— Western Cape Gov (@WesternCapeGov) March 11, 2020

South Africa’s coronavirus cases

The first case in the country tested positive for the virus on 5 March. He was part of a group that travelled to Italy and returned to the country this month.

South Africa’s second coronavirus case was confirmed on 6 March. The third was confirmed a day later.

On Sunday, four more people tested positive for the virus.

Globally, more than 115 000 cases have been identified at the time of writing.

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Feature image: CDC via Unsplash