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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to speak to the nation about the growing threat and many expect him to announce new restrictive measures to try to slow the spread of the disease.
More than half of South Africa's total cases are in Gauteng province, which include Johannesburg, the country's largest city with 5.7 million people, and the capital, Pretoria, with 2.4 million, according to the figures released by the government health ministry.
South Africa has overtaken Egypt to be become the African country with the highest number of cases. South Africa has not registered a death from the disease. The majority of cases are from travelers from Europe and other countries, but the number of cases that are locally transmitted is rising.