Johannesburg, Mar 26 (AFP) South Africa's confirmed novel coronavirus cases rose sharply on Thursday to 927 from 709 the previous day, on the eve of a three-week lockdown, the government said.

"As of today, the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Africa have risen by 218. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 927," the health ministry said in a statement.

The continent's most industrialised country goes under a 21-day military-patrolled total lockdown starting midnight Thursday in a bid to control the spread of the virus.

Addressing police officers just before they started deploying on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa, warned people who try to violate the lockdown that they will "meet the full might of the law". (AFP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)