WATCH LIVE | Parliament debates coronavirus as first case detected in SA

Parliament is debating how the national health department plans to deal with the spread of coronavirus.

The debate comes shortly after confirmation of the first case of the virus in South Africa. 

In a statement on Thursday, health minister Zweli Mkhize said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that a suspected case of Covid-19 had tested positive.

A 38-year-old South African man who recently returned from Italy with his wife has tested positive for the deadly virus.