Lebanon confirms first case of coronavirus, 2 more suspected

Lebanon confirmed its first coronavirus case on Friday and said it was monitoring two other potential cases after a 45-year-old woman who returned from Iran tested positive, reported Reuters.

Health Minister Hamad Hassan told a news conference the patient was taken directly to isolation from a plane arriving from the Iranian city of Qom on Thursday after exhibiting symptoms on the aircraft.

Two more people from the flight were suspected of carrying the virus on Friday and will be transferred to the same Beirut hospital for quarantine, Hassan said.

All other passengers were asked to stay isolated in their homes for 14 days, he said. Hassan told Reuters that the plane had around 150 passengers and that if any showed symptoms later, they would be tested and quarantined.

The plane was a Mahan Air flight that landed around 7.30 p.m. (1730 GMT) on Thursday. There was no decision so far to suspend flights coming from Tehran, a source at Beirut airport said.

The window of opportunity to contain wider worldwide spread of the epidemic of the new coronavirus disease is closing, the World Health Organisation warned on Friday.

Read: Iraq shuts border with Iran over coronavirus fears

A coronavirus outbreak in Iran, which has so far seen four people die, began in the Shia Muslim holy city of Qom, authorities in Iran said.

An Iranian health ministry official said the likely source was Chinese workers in Qom who had recently travelled to China, where the epidemic originated.

Hassan said all precautions in line with World Health Organisation advice were being taken and offered Lebanese a hotline to call if they experienced or witnessed symptoms. “There is no need for excessive panic at this time…The patient is in a good state,” said Hassan.

Authorities are following up on arrivals to Lebanon from the past 10 days for potential cases, he said.

The coronavirus, officially called COVID-19, has swept across numerous countries in the world and gave rise to increased fears of its impact since it was first identified in China’s Wuhan province earlier this year.

More than 2,100 people have died in China and new research suggesting the virus is more contagious than previously thought has heightened international alarm over the outbreak.

Though the respiratory virus has not had much of a prominent presence in the Middle East as a whole, countries in the region have implemented a series of preventative measures in order to avoid infections taking root. The measures include the UAE ordering citizens not to touch noses in their traditional greetings, and Turkey’s manufacturing of a “fast-results” kit to test for the virus.

Read: Chinese student commits suicide in Saudi after being quarantined for coronavirus