First Case of Novel Coronavirus Confirmed in Spain

[Asia Economy Reporter Koh Hyung-kwang] The first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) has occurred in Spain.

According to major foreign media on the 1st, a man on La Gomera Island in the Canary Islands, Spain, was confirmed to have the novel coronavirus on the 31st (local time).

Earlier, the Spanish Ministry of Health quarantined five people on the island, including those who had contact with a German confirmed case of the novel coronavirus. This diagnosis from the Spanish National Microbiology Center came immediately after a plane transporting 27 EU nationals from Wuhan, China, the origin of the novel coronavirus, landed in Madrid.

The Spanish Ministry of Health explained that none of the repatriated Spaniards showed suspected symptoms of the novel coronavirus, but they will be quarantined in a military hospital in Madrid and observed for 14 days. Salvador Illa, Spain's Minister of Health, is scheduled to preside over a cabinet meeting on the 1st to discuss measures against the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases due to the novel coronavirus spreading worldwide has surpassed 11,000. The death toll has also reached 258.