South Africa records first local case of COVID-19

A local man has tested positive for the deadly coronavirus in South Africa, the health ministry confirms.

The victim, a 32-year-old man was said to have been infected following contact with a Chinese businessman, Reuters news agency reports.

The South African ministry of health, according to the BBC, announced four more confirmed cases of Covid 19, bringing the total number to 17.

Before today, all the cases were discovered from people who travelled to the country form other countries.

South Africa, Algeria and Nigeria now have evidence of local transmission after contacts with people who imported the virus from already infected states.

The World Health Organisation has declared the outbreak a pandemic, meaning it is spreading fast across the world. Some 81 countries are yet to report an outbreak, and more than half of them are in Africa. There are 132 confirmed cases and two deaths on the continent.

BBC