MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. A female resident of the Moscow Region has been preliminary tested positive for the novel coronavirus after visiting Switzerland’s Zurich, the Moscow regional health ministry told TASS on Saturday.

"A female resident of the Moscow Region returned from Zurich on February 25. Being anxious after her journey, she sought medical help despite lack of symptoms. She was tested for the coronavirus infection. After some analyses, the preliminary result has been positive," the spokesperson said.

Her sample will be sent later in the day to the Vektor laboratory in the city of Novosibirsk for confirmation. The Moscow Region’s health ministry and the Russian consumer safety watchdog’s regional branch are holding the situation under control.

"The woman and her family have been taken to the infectious disease department of the regional hospital. They all are placed in isolated wards. The condition of all the patients is satisfactory and they do not show symptoms. A full range of diagnostic and therapeutic measures has been taken. At present, the circle of people they have been in contact is being established. They all will be placed in quarantine and will stay under medical observation," the press service said.

In late December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s city of Wuhan, an economic and industrial megacity with a population of 12 million. The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. Outside China, the worst affected countries are Iran, Italy and South Korea. Overall, more than 90 other countries, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases.

According to the latest reports, China, which handles the bulk of cases, has confirmed around 80,000 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus. The virus’ death toll has reached more than 3,000, yet more than 55,500 patients have recovered from the disease. WHO says that new coronavirus cases outside China have passed 21,000, and there are over 400 deaths.