Coronavirus in SA: Health minister says local transmissions need to be validated

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Monday confirmed that among coronavirus cases which are being investigated are some which appear to be internal transmissions of the virus.

The minister was speaking during an inter-ministerial briefing after President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Sunday night, and mentioned a first case of a local transmission, describing it as "concerning".

Mkhize said that the internal transmission cases would only be announced after authorities have all the information.

"For a start, it's not enough to just say... was tested positive by a private laboratory. It has to be validated. But on top of that we need to go into the history and try and locate the exact source of where that could have happened.

"In other words we want to try and find who are they linked to – can we find the contact that was the source of that infection," Mkhize said.

It was previously announced that the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) must validate all suspected positive cases.

The minister said that as soon as additional information is available, it will be further communicated.

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