SA’s patient zero gets sent home

KwaZulu Natal MEC for health Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu has confirmed that the first South African who tested positive for Covid-19 has been sent home along with his wife after testing negative multiple times.

Simelane-Zulu added that he also no longer showed symptoms before confirming that two more of the province’s coronavirus patients had also been sent home on Saturday after testing negative on two separate occasions.

This makes a total of four patients who have been cleared of the virus in the province.

She was speaking at a briefing held after a meeting between KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala and the province’s religious leaders whom Zikalala reached out to in a bid to earn their support in containing the spread of Covid-19.

Zikalala expressed his concern after some churches insisted that they would carry on with their Easter celebrations despite calls to limit mass gatherings.

In his post-meeting briefing, Zikalala said he was able to secure support from religious leaders in the province and they agreed to adhere to the rules set forth by President Cyril Ramaphosa since he declared a national state of disaster.

Sihle Zikalala says he’s not worried about Bishop Bheki Ngcobo of the Zion Christian Church and his recent pronouncements that he will proceed with Easter commemorations. Zikalala says law enforcement officers will act. @NkoRaphael pic.twitter.com/kWhXxPu6UL

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) March 23, 2020

The first positive Covid-19 case was discovered in a Hilton resident in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday, 5 March.

Upon confirming the case, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the 38-year-old male had 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. Five other people who travelled with the group also tested positive for Covid-19.

After the patient consulted a private general practitioner on 3 March with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and a cough, he went into self-isolation.

He was then moved to Grey’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg where he was kept in isolation.

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