South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the coronavirus will turn into a "national crisis" and its impact will be "huge".
His warning came after the first case of the coronavirus was detected in South Africa.
A patient is a 38-year-old man who visited Italy with his wife.
This brings to 27 the number of coronavirus cases reported in Africa. Algeria is worst-affected, with 17 cases, 16 of them in the same family.
The South African couple, who have two children, were part of a group of 10 who returned from Italy on 1 March, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.
The man and the doctor who first treated him were both in self-isolation in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, he added.
A tracer team had been sent to KwaZulu-Natal to identify people who might have been in contact with the man and the doctor, Dr. Mkhize said.
Mr. Ramaphosa urged South Africans not to panic and to get immediate medical help if they showed symptoms of Covid-19.
"It will have a huge impact on a number of things... travel... our economy. It is already showing signs of a negative impact on tourism.
"The effect will be big. South Africans will need to be prepared," he was quoted by privately owned Eyewitness News as saying.
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