CoronaVirusUpdate: Department of health confirms SA’s first Covid-19 case
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases on Thursday confirmed South Africa’s first case of Covid-19, commonly referred to as the coronavirus.“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 1 March 2020,” said the department in a statement.
More than 95,000 people have been infected and over 3,200 have died worldwide from the virus, which by Thursday had reached some 80 countries and territories. As the virus has spread, other countries have also implemented extraordinary measures, with UNESCO saying Wednesday that 13 countries have closed schools, affecting 290.5 million children, while nine others have implemented localised closures.
In Japan, nearly all schools are closed after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for classes to be cancelled through March and spring break, slated for late March through early April.The German health minister said the outbreak was now a “global pandemic” — a term the World Health Organization has stopped short of using — meaning the virus is spreading in several regions through local transmission.
Infections are now rising faster abroad than they are in China, where 31 more deaths and 139 new cases were reported Thursday. China’s toll now stands at 3,012, with over 80,000 infections. Stock markets have rumbled over fears of recession, but Asian shares rallied on Thursday after a surge on Wall Street buoyed by global stimulus measures.
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