South Africa now has 17 confirmed cases of COVID-19, after four additional patients tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday.

A 38-year man 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 SA on the 7th March.

A 27-year-old female from Mpumalanga who had travelled to the United States returned to South Africa on the 7th March. In Gauteng, a 43 year old man from Johannesburg who had travelled to New York via Dubai and returned to South Africa on the 8th March.

And in the Free State, a 32-year-old man who came into contact with a Chinese businessman has been diagnosed. This is the first case of local transmission as all others have been by patients who had travelled abroad.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize 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.”

Mkhize is expected to meet health MECs from all provinces to discuss the government’s strategy to contain the spread of the fatal disease in South Africa. This was promoted by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) announcement that COVID19 is officially a pandemic, as it has spread to multiple continents at the same time.

It’s believed the question around travel restrictions and self-isolation could be discussed.