South Africa confirmed its second case of the coronavirus, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday.
The patient is a 39-year-old woman from Gauteng who has been in direct contact with the first case, a 38-year-old man, from KwaZulu-Natal.
Both the man and woman were part of a group of 10 people who had traveled to Italy and arrived back in South Africa on March 1.
The man was reported on Thursday as the first confirmed positive case of the virus in the country.
“The second patient who has now tested positive for COVID-19 will now be immediately admitted to a public health facility in Gauteng that government has identified as one of the hospitals that are ready to receive COVID-19 positive patients,” the statement read in part.
The ministry also assured the public that it has information and knows the whereabouts of the other people in that group which traveled to Italy. It added they had remained in isolation to avoid further contact with other people and were currently being tested.
The ministry said that it was following all laid out protocols and will keep the public fully informed on all relevant developments regarding this case.
“We continue to call for calm and cooperation from the public during this period. We also request that the privacy of the patients, the affected individuals and families be respected.”
The ministry added that a 39-year-old male South African works in the South Korean city of Daegu had also tested positive for the coronavirus. The ministry said that the man has remained in South Korea and it was following up on details regarding the confirmation of the case and where he was being treated.
