South Africa has confirmed its first local transmission of the coronavirus, in the Free State.

According to the department of health, a 32-year-old male came into contact with a Chinese businessman, making it the first case of local transmission, as all other cases have been by patients who had travelled abroad.

The department on Thursday 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.

A 38-year-male from Durban who lives in Turkey and was visiting his family in South Africa has tested positive. He had travelled to the UK and returned to South Africa on 7 March.

A 27-year-old female from Mpumalanga who had travelled to the US has tested positive. She returned to South Africa on 7 March, too.

A 43-year-old male from Johannesburg who had travelled to New York via Dubai and returned to South Africa on 8 March has tested positive.

Symptomatic treatment

The department said at this stage all patients are in self-quarantine and have mild to moderate symptoms. They are also on symptomatic treatment.

“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.  — SANews