TIMELINE | How Covid-19 slowly then relentlessly spread across SA

It started as a trickle as reports surfaced about holidaymakers returning from abroad and having to go into quarantine but, as the weeks slipped by, it transformed into a virus unleashing a storm across the country.

This is a timeline of how the tentacles of the coronavirus pandemic have spread in South Africa, which has experienced one of the most stringent lockdowns in the world. 

Despite the strict measures, the numbers of infections and deaths have yet to peak. 

• November 17 2019: Covid-19 is reported in China.

• March 5 2020: SA records its first Covid-19 case in a 38-year-old man who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of people who returned to the country.

• March 1 2020: "Patient zero" was quarantined at his Hilton home, outside Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal.

• March 7 2020: Health minister Zweli Mkhize announced a second Covid-19 case, a 39-year-old woman from Gauteng with a direct link to the group that went to Italy. 

• March 8 2020: Mkhize reveals the woman is the wife of the Hilton man.

• March 11 2020: Six new Covid-19 cases are confirmed in SA. Among them were two women, one who had travelled to Italy and another to Germany.

• March 12 2020: Covid-19 cases rise to 16 in SA as Mpumalanga records its first case.

• March 13 2020: There is an increase in the number of "imported" cases of Covid-19. KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, the Western Cape and Mpumalanga have confirmed cases.

• March 15 2020: President Cyril Ramaphosa declares a state of disaster and introduces steps to limit the spread of the pandemic including travel restrictions and closing borders and schools. SA had 61 Covid-19 cases at the time.

The measures also restricted the gathering of people.

• March 16 2020: Covid-19 cases now number 62 in the country. Two of the cases are local transmissions.

• March 17 2020: Ramaphosa announces the establishment of the national coronavirus command council as the country records 85 cases.

• March 18 2020: The number of infections jumps to 116 with 14 local transmissions. Most cases are in the Western Cape and Gauteng,  followed by KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

• March 21 2020: The first Covid-19 case is recorded in the Eastern Cape, a woman who had travelled to Germany.

• March 23: 2020: Ramaphosa announces a looming national lockdown.

• March 26 2020: The national lockdown starts at level 5 with strict regulations to limit people's movement, and bans on the sale of alcohol and tobacco products.

• March 27 2020: SA records its first two fatalities - a 48-year-old woman and a 28-year-old woman at a private hospital in the Western Cape.

• April 21 2020: Ramaphosa announces a R500bn rescue package in response to the pandemic.

• May 1 2020: Ramaphosa announces the easing of the lockdown to level 4.

• May 24 2020: Ramaphosa says the lockdown will ease to level 3  from June 1. The easing includes the lifting of a night curfew, the sale of alcohol under certain conditions, partial reopening of schools, and the reopening of spaza, wholesale and retail shops. The sale of cigarettes remains prohibited.

• June 2 2020: Covid-19 cases soar to 35,812. A 10-year-old and 19-year-old succumb to the illness, raising the national death toll to 755.

• June 3 2020: Cumulative Covid-19 cases reach 37,525.

• June 4 2020: Covid-19 cases hit 40,792 with 3,267 new cases identified over a 24-hour cycle.

• June 5 2020: There are 2,642 cases recorded in 24 hours with the national death toll now at 908. The total number of infections in the country is 43,434.

• June 6 2020: Total confirmed infections rise to 45,973.

• June 7 2020: Mpumalanga records its first Covid-19 death. The number of confirmed cases nationally is 48,285.

• June 8 2020: SA's death toll passes 1,000. Schools reopen for grades 12 and 7.

• June 9 2020: The country learns that 82 deaths related to Covid-19 were recorded over 24-hours, 61 of them in the Western Cape, 11 in the Eastern Cape and 10 in Gauteng. Nationally, 1,162 have died.

• June 10 2020: Close to one million Covid-19 tests have been conducted across the country, which now has 55,421 cases.

• June 11 2020: There are 58,568 cumulative cases. More than one million tests have been done.

• June 12 2020: SA's Covid-19 death toll stands at 1,354 with a mortality rate of 2.2%. Seventy deaths are recorded over 24-hours - 39 in the Western Cape, 30 in the Eastern Cape and one in Limpopo.

• June 13 2020: Deputy correctional services minister Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa tests positive for Covid-19. New data shows  the pandemic is hitting SA's mainly black townships hard.

• June 14 2020: The national death toll reaches 1,480 and cumulative infections number 70,038.

• June 15 2020: Johannesburg has the highest number of infections in Gauteng at 5,545,  followed by Ekurhuleni with 2,234 and Tshwane with 1,543.

• June 16 2020: Mkhize urges the youth to help combat the pandemic as more than 100 young people are recorded to have died from Covid-19.

• June 17 2020: Cumulative Covid-19 infections climb to 80,412.

• June 18 2020: The national death toll is 1,737.

• June 19 2020: Cumulative cases jump to 87,715.

• June 20 2020: Cumulative cases hit 92,681.

• June 21 2020: A total of 1,328,060 tests have been completed.

• June 22 2020: SA surpasses the 100,000 mark for confirmed infections, less than three months since the first recorded death. The total number of deaths is 1,991.

• June 23 2020: The health ministry announces 111 deaths related to Covid-19 over 24 hours, the biggest single-day increase in fatalities. 

• June 24 2020: The health ministry says more than 5,000 cases are recorded for the first time in a single day.

• June 25 2020: In just 24 hours there are 6,580 new infections recorded.

• June 26 2020: The correctional services department records 2,190 Covid-19 cases. Restaurants are allowed to reopen for sit down meals but patrons will not be allowed to buy alcohol.

• June 27 2020: SA records 7,210 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours.

• June 28 2020: Fatalities surge in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape. Experts warn Gauteng will be the next epicentre.

• June 29 2020: SA sees 6,132 new infections in 24-hours, about half of them in Gauteng.

• June 30 2020: A Covid-19 cumulative infection milestone is reached with more than 150,000 cases in the country. 

• July 2 2020: Ramaphosa extends the deployment of 20,000 soldiers until the end of September at a cost of R1.5bn. SA registers another record day of Covid-19 cases, with 8,735 people testing positive in 24-hours. Total cumulative infections are 168,061 - of which 65,841 are in the Western Cape, 49,937 in Gauteng, 30,603 in the Eastern Cape and 11,669 in KwaZulu-Natal. Deaths climb to 2,844.