Iraq confirms first case of coronavirus

Iraqis take medical precautions at the Bashmaq border crossing with Iran to prevent the spread of coronavirus, on 23 February 2020 [Fariq Faraj Mahmood/Anadolu Agency]

Iraq on Monday confirmed the first case of the coronavirus in the country’s Najaf city, Anadolu reports.

Ridvan Kindi, the head of the Health Department in Najaf city in south of capital Baghdad, said an Iranian student has tested positive for the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19.

The student was immediately quarantined and necessary measures were taken, Kindi said.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s state television announced that the death toll from the virus in the country rose to 12 with 47 confirmed cases.

Turkey on Sunday temporarily closed its border with Iran and halted flights from Iran to prevent the spread of the virus.

The coronavirus has sounded global alarm with China reporting 2,592 deaths from the outbreak on Monday with over 77,000 confirmed cases.

Outside mainland China, the coronavirus has spread to more than 25 other countries including the US, the UK, Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India.

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak an international health emergency.

READ: Israel quarantines more than 200 over coronavirus fears

Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.