Iraq’s first case:
First case of coronavirus confirmed in Iraq’s Najaf: health ministry
2 hours ago
Mohammed Rwanduzy
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s health ministry confirmed on Monday that an Iranian student in the Shiite holy city of Najaf has tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Najaf Health Department would like to clarify that the results of laboratory tests conducted today showed an Iranian citizen studying religious studies, who had entered Iraq before the ministerial crisis cell’s decision to ban Iranians from entering, has coronavirus,” the Najaf Health Department said in a statement.
The student’s case was discovered while medical teams in Najaf were carrying out routine tests on students and visitors. The student was taken to hospital, quarantined, and samples taken for testing, the department added
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/240220201
An Italian passenger jet was held in Mauritius over coronavirus fears today after Italy confirmed its fifth virus death in Europe’s first major outbreak.
Dozens of passengers from Lombardy and Veneto - the two worst-affected regions of Italy - were told to return home or face quarantine in the Indian Ocean country, airline Alitalia said.
Forty of the 224 people on board eventually chose to return home to northern Italy where 50,000 people have been placed under lockdown, schools shut and public events banned in a drastic bid to contain the virus.
It is not yet clear whether any other passengers or crew were kept in quarantine in Mauritius, after initial reports said around another 30 people from the affected regions had been on the plane.