South Africa’s first coronavirus patient is ready to go home, said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Sunday.
Mkhize said at a meeting in Pietermaritzburg that the department is waiting for approval to send patient zero home.
The second case diagnosed in South Africa is a 39-year-old woman from Gauteng, who was on the same ski holiday.
Mkhize says he talked to the patients on Sunday morning and that the nurse who looked after the man told him the man had recovered sufficiently and was just waiting for the official green light to go home. Mkhize said the man will have to test negative before going home News24 reported.
“I called the man: ‘Ey sir, how are you? says Mkhize. The man replied ‘Ey, I’m okay. . . I’m doing better now. “
The man told Mkhize he began to suspect unrest in Italy when police closed restaurants and set an evening clock rule in the town where the ski resort is.
The man and his wife were on vacation with eight other people.
The man went to see his family doctor when he developed flu symptoms. The doctor immediately arranged for him to be tested for the coronavirus and also placed herself in isolation.
Patient zero’s doctor spoke out earlier this week: