THE national department of health has confirmed its first local transmission of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Free State.
According to the department a 32-year-old male came into contact with a Chinese businessman, making it the first case of local transmission – all other cases have been by patients who had travelled abroad.
On Thursday, the department on confirmed 17 cases of COVID-19, this is an additional four cases from Wednesday.
Other three confirmed cases are from KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.
In KwaZulu-Natal, a 38-year-male from Durban who lives in Turkey was visiting his family in South Africa when he tested positive. He had travelled to the UK and returned to SA on 7 March 2020.
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In Mpumalanga, a 27-year-old female who had travelled to the United States has tested positive. She returned to South Africa on 7 March.
Then in Gauteng, a 43-year-old male who had travelled to New York via Dubai and returned to South Africa on 8 March also has tested positive.
The department said at this stage all patients are in self quarantine and have mild to moderate symptoms. They are also on symptomatic treatment.
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“Our tracing teams are now making a list and have started contacting individuals that have been identified as these patients contacts,” the department said in a statement.
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