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President Cyril Ramaphosa urged South Africans not to panic as he spoke on Thursday after Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed South Africa's first positive coronavirus case.
In a statement, Mkhize confirmed the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NCID) had confirmed a positive test.
"The patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people who arrived back in South Africa on 1 March," he said in the statement.
"The patient consulted a private general practitioner on 3 March with symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, a sore throat and cough."
Speaking to the SABC, Ramaphosa said the government was on high alert and said it was important the matter be handled with the necessary care as this could turn out to be a 'national crisis'.
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