First SA citizen to test positive for coronavirus recovering

The KwaZulu-Natal Health Department says the 38 year old patient who was the first to test positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country is making good recovery.

The man is currently receiving treatment at Grey’s Hospital, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed that two of the seven cases in KwaZulu-Natal are in Pietermaritzburg, while the other four are in Durban.

Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu says government is doing all it can to contain the spread of the virus.

Simelane-Zulu says, “The reason why we as the department have not allowed them to go home is because protocols say, you only go home once you have tested for the virus. So he is now waiting for that process, he is in the hospital, he is in an isolation ward and he is feeling well. So, it means he has recovered but we are just waiting because every two days when a patient is taken in, we then have to swab and see whether the virus is there.”

Chriselda Lewis reports on latest six patients who have traveled to multiple countries in Europe

Meanwhile, the NICD a division of the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) has confirmed that a total of 645 persons have been tested for SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa.

The NHLS on Tuesday confirmed that six news cases of COVID-19 positive persons have been identified in the country, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed 13.

The total provincial break down of COVID-19 positive cases to date is 7 in KwaZulu-Natal, 5 in Gauteng, and 1 in the Western Cape.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak a pandemic, the term pandemic relates to a geographic spread and is used to describe a disease that affects a whole country or the entire world.

More than 121 500 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and 4 383 have died.

WHO declares coronavirus a pandemic

“Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death”-@DrTedros #COVID19 #coronavirus

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 11, 2020

“Let me summarize it in 4⃣ key areas.

1⃣ Prepare and be ready.

2⃣ Detect, protect and treat.

3⃣ Reduce transmission.

4⃣ Innovate and learn”-@DrTedros #COVID19 #coronavirus

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 11, 2020

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