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JOHANNESBURG — South Africa on Thursday confirmed a case of coronavirus, the health ministry said, the country’s first case of the deadly disease sweeping through the world.

“The National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of COVID-19 has tested positive,” the ministry said.

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“The patient is a 38-year-old male who traveled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on March 1, 2020,” it added. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo.)