The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says, as of Wednesday, 67 individual tests for the novel coronavirus have come up negative.

This means South Africa continues to have no confirmed cases of the virus which first broke out in Wuhan, China.

"Should there be a positive case, official information will be communicated by the national Department of Health, World Health Organisation and NICD," Jimoh said.

The institute said several laboratory controls were included in each test to control the specimen quality, correct functioning of the laboratory reagents and to monitor for contamination.

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It added it would continue to provide preparedness training, guidance and support to healthcare professionals across the country and continent.

"So far, we have trained 650 health professionals, including medical doctors, environmental health practitioners, emergency personnel, nurses, and others."

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Jimoh said the training included guidance on what samples to collect to confirm the diagnosis as well as how to best manage cases clinically and to prevent the spread of the virus to others while a diagnosis was being made.