Key Points:
- Confirmed cases 98 424
- Deaths 3386
- South Africa reports its first case
- South Korea reported 518 new cases as of Friday morning, bringing its total to 6,284 cases. There were seven more deaths, to a total of 42 deaths.
- Australia shut down its first school, after a 16-year-old student in Sydney tested positive for the new coronavirus.
- San Francisco health officials announced the first two cases of COVID-19 in the city, and said they were unable to determine the source of the infections.
- Woman in 70s becomes first virus fatality in UK
The first case of the novel coronavirus in South Africa has been diagnosed, the country’s health minister announced Thursday.
The patient, a 38-year-old man, is part of a group of 10 people, including the man’s wife, that returned March 1 to South Africa from Italy, Dr. Zweli Mkhize said in a statement.
The patient went to a general practitioner on March 3 with fever, headache, malaise, sore throat and cough, Mkhize said. A nurse took a swab, and it was delivered to a lab.
The patient has self-isolated since March 3, Mkhize said. The couple have two children.
Woman in 70s becomes first virus fatality in UK
A woman with underlying health conditions has become the first person in the UK to die after testing positive for coronavirus.
The Royal Berkshire NHS Trust said the patient, understood to be in her 70s, had been “in and out of hospital for non-coronavirus reasons”.
She was admitted and tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday.
It comes as the number of UK people diagnosed with the virus reached 116, a rise of more than 30 in 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the prime minister’s official spokesman said it was,
highly likely the virus is going to spread in a significant way”.
How to FIGHT the CORONAVIRUS – It starts with you!
