No evidence coronavirus is circulating in SA’s population, says NICD
Cape Town – While we continue to see an increase in Covid-19 positive cases in South Africa, there is currently no evidence to suggest that coronavirus is circulating in South Africa’s population, The National Institute for Communicable Diseases said on Sunday.
However, the status of Covid-19 transmission is increasingly likely to shift based on trends found in other parts of the world,” the NICD said.
“We call on all South Africans to continue to follow Covid-19 preventive measures such as meticulous hand hygiene and cough etiquette.”
The NICD, a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, said it has tested 1476 for SARS-CoV-2 – the causative pathogen for Covid-19. As of 15 March 2020, there have been 13 newly imported Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of positive Covid-19 cases to 51.
Earlier on Sunday, the Health Minister confirmed that 13 more people had tested positive for coronavirus.
The breakdown of new cases per province is as follows:
GAUTENG: 7
- A 60-year-old male who had travelled to Iran.
- A 36-year-old male who had travelled to the UK
- A 54-year-old male who had travelled to Switzerland
- A 27-year-old male who had travelled to the UK
- A 21-year-old female who had travelled to Germany
- A 53-year-old female who had travelled to Germany
- A 29-year-old male who had travelled to Switzerland
WESTERN CAPE: 5
- A 35-year-old female who had travelled to Germany and Austria
- A 42-year-old female who had travelled to Spain, Switzerland and the UK
- A 50-year-old male who had travelled to the Netherlands
- A 33-year-old male who had travelled to Switzerland
- A 35-year-old male who had travelled to Austria
KWAZULU-NATAL: 1
- A 34-year-old male who had travelled to the UK
On Saturday the country’s number of confirmed coronavirus infections stood at 38, including a 14-year-old girl who had travelled to the US and Dubai.