4 more infected with coronavirus in Iraq

All infected people are from same family that recently returned from Iran, says Iraqi Health Ministry

By Haydar Karaalp

BAGHDAD (AA) - Some four people have been infected with the coronavirus in Kirkuk, north of Iraq’s capital Baghdad, according to country's Health Ministry on Tuesday.

In a statement, the ministry confirmed that four people were from the same family who recently returned from Iran.

On Monday, the Iraqi authorities confirmed the first case of the coronavirus in the country’s Najaf city, saying an Iranian student tested positive for the coronavirus, and was immediately quarantined.

Coronavirus outbreak, officially known as COVID-19, which was first detected in December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the capital of central Hubei province, has caused over 2,600 deaths so far, with more than 77,000 confirmed cases in China.

The virus has spread to more than 25 other countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, France, Russia, Spain and India.

Following the global spread of the virus, the WHO declared the outbreak an international health emergency.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara

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