Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

On 5 March the Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize, announced the first confirmed case, epidemiologists and clinicians from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) were deployed to KwaZulu-Natal in response[4] On 15 March 2020, the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, declared a national state of disaster,[5][6][7] and the patient went to Grey's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.

[17][18] The day thereafter, on 17 March, the first confirmed cases of local transmission were announced by government labs, 4 in Gauteng, 3 in KwaZulu-Natal, and 1 in the Western Cape.

[38][39] On 13 April, chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Salim Abdool Karim indicated that the lockdown had been effective in delaying transmissions.

[53] As of 3 July 2020, the median age of those who had died was 61 years and males had a 1.5 times greater death rate compared to females.

[55][56] Resumption of alcohol sale and distribution had led to increased pressure on hospitals from road traffic accidents, trauma and violence which happened mostly at night.

[71] On 11 November, President Ramaphosa addressed the nation where he announced extension of the state of disaster by another month until 15 December 2020.

Relaxation of international travel, shop trading hours restrictions along with continued COVID unemployment support were announced.

Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality was identified as a coronavirus hotspot; restrictions were tightened for this area.

[76] On 14 December, the President announced in an address to the nation, the closure of some beaches, lowering of the number of people that can attend gatherings and the tightening of other measures to curb the second wave.

[79] On 28 December 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation again and announced that the country would go back into a partial lockdown level 3 for 14 days to reduce the speed of the second wave during the festive season.

[81] Modelling by WHO's Regional Office for Africa suggests that due to under-reporting, the true number of infections in 2020 was around 17 million.

He announced the continuation of current pandemic alleviation measures, vaccine rollout developments and the extension of the state of disaster[84] On 13 January the government said it had arrested 7,000 people since the end of December for not wearing face masks.

South Africa lost 2.2 million jobs in the second quarter of 2020, and GDP is expected to show a 6.1% decrease for the year.

[89] On 1 February, President Ramaphosa announced the arrival at O. R. Tambo International Airport of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India.

Although South Africa would remain at alert level 3, easing of restrictions effective the next day was announced because the peak of the second wave had passed.

In his address to the nation, Ramaphosa also mentioned that the South African Cabinet had approved the proposal to nominate the Cuban Medical Brigade for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for its role in sending over 3 700 members around the world to help fight COVID-19.

[90] On 7 February, it was announced that the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine did not work well in protecting clinical trial participants from mild or moderate illness caused by the 501.V2 variant severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, also known as B.1.351 lineage.

He gave information on COVID-19 vaccination progress, announced temporary restrictions on offsite holiday alcohol sales and the easing of measures around religious gatherings.

[98] On 8 May, The National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed that they had sequenced COVID-19 specimens from individuals who had recently travelled to India.

On 30 May, President Ramaphosa, due to a surge in COVID-19 infections, addressed the nation announcing the tightening of restrictions from adjusted level lockdown 1 to 2, beginning on 31 May 2021.

[112] On 15 June 2021 President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the country was moved to alert level 3 due to the third wave.

[114] On 9 July 2021, sixteen months into the pandemic, doctors in Johannesburg described the system there as beyond its breaking point, with insufficient beds and barely enough oxygen.

[114] On 9 July, sixteen months into the pandemic, doctors in Johannesburg described the system there as beyond its breaking point, with insufficient beds and barely enough oxygen.

[116] On the 12th, the president announced that because of the 2021 South African unrest some COVID-19 vaccination sites and clinics had been closed in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.

[124] On 25 November 2021, a new heavily mutated coronavirus variant, B.1.1.529, later called Omicron which spread from neighboring Botswana, was announced.

[125] Several countries announced travel bans from South Africa, including: Australia,[126] Canada,[127] France,[128] Germany,[129] Hungary,[130] Indonesia,[131] Italy,[128] Malaysia,[129] Mauritius,[130] Singapore,[129] South Korea,[130] Sri Lanka,[130] Thailand,[130] the United Kingdom,[126] and the United States.

He stated that there would be no immediate change in the country's coronavirus alert level because of the recently discovered Omicron variant.

[133] On 8 December, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported nearly 20,000 new COVID-19 cases - a record since the Omicron variant was detected.

[138] On midnight 4 April 2022, the National State of Disaster was ended although some transitional provisions remained in place for a period of 30 days.

[141] On 22 June, in a notification published in the Government Gazette, Health Minister Joe Phaahla repealed the country's Covid-19 laws, which abolished Covid restrictions such as the use of face masks.