South Africa confirms first case of coronavirus

South Africa on Thursday confirmed a case of coronavirus, the health ministry said, the country’s first case of the deadly disease sweeping through the world.

“The National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of Covid-19 has tested positive,” the ministry said.

The case was detected in the country's eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province.

It is the first case in southern Africa, and the latest confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and Senegal.

“The patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on March 1, 2020,” it added.

Two days later, on March 3, he consulted a private general practitioner with a fever, headache, sore throat and a cough.

Italy has emerged as the European hotspot for the deadly virus with the national death toll at 107, the deadliest outbreak outside China.

More than 90,000 people have been infected and over 3,000 killed worldwide since the virus first emerged in China in December.

South Africa is preparing to repatriate 184 of its citizens -- comprising students, teachers and other professionals working in China's Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic.  

The government's information department also announced that two South Africans working on the cruise ship Diamond Princess who had initially tested positive for the virus, "have now tested negative and will shortly be making their way home".