COVID-19 has reached the southern tip of Africa, extending its spread around the world.
South Africa has confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus, South Africa's health minister Zweli Mkhize announced Thursday. A 38-year-old man who had recently traveled to Italy tested positive for the disease, and he and the doctor who treated him are now in quarantine.
Africa's coronavirus cases had previously been confined to the northern part of the continent, with several cases confirmed in Senegal, as well as 17 in Algeria and other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Most of those cases could be tied directly to travel in Europe, and had so far been slow to spread.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Meanwhile in the U.S., California reported its first death related to coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. to 11. Seventeen states have reported COVID-19 cases, and four of them have declared states of emergencies. A cruise ship coming from Hawaii holding 2,500 people is now being held off the California coast for screening.
-
August 23 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include deficit dimness, steamroller-in-chief, and more
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
