South Africa’s health ministry confirmed its first case of coronavirus in the country while Algeria also recorded nine new cases bringing the total cases confirmed in the country to 17.
The South African patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement.
The couple returned to South Africa on March 1 and the patient consulted a private practitioner two days later with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough.
The patient has been in isolation since then as well as the doctor.
Also, Algeria reported nine new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing to 17 the total number of people tested positive for the virus, the health ministry said.
The cases include 16 from the same family in Blida province, some 30 km (20 miles) south of the capital Algiers, and an Italian man.
The family last month hosted a man and his daughter based in France who were tested positive for coronavirus after flying back to France.
The authorities have since then launched an investigation to identify people with whom the two individuals have met during their stay in Algeria.
