CORONAVIRUS

Algeria confirms first case of coronavirus

The patient was an Italian man who had arrived in the country on 17 February.

In Summary

• Algeria becomes the second African country with a confirmed case of coronavirus.

Medical staff carry a box at Jinyintan hospital, where the patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China.
Medical staff carry a box at Jinyintan hospital, where the patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China.
Image: REUTERS

The Algerian health minister has confirmed the country's first case of the coronavirus in an announcement on state-owned ENTV on Tuesday evening.

The minister, Abdel Rahman Ben Bouzid, said the patient was an Italian man who had arrived in the country on 17 February, Reuters news agency reports.

The patient has been placed in isolation.

Algeria becomes the second African country with a confirmed case of coronavirus.

Egypt was the first to report a confirmed case of the disease but later announced that the patient had been declared clear of the infection and was on the way to recovery.

Here is a video of the announcement by the Algerian minister in Arabic:

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