CHISINAU, March 7. /TASS/. Moldova reported the first coronavirus case on Saturday.
The country’s Health, Labor and Social Protection Ministry said that a 48-year-old woman, who had flown from Italy’s Bologna to Chisinau, tested positive for the coronavirus.
"The woman was immediately rushed to hospital since she suffers from diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure, so the doctors assess her condition as serious. In hospital she had a fever, cough and pulmonary insufficiency," the statement said.
On Sunday, an emergency session of the government commission on public health will he held. Moldovan President Igor Dodon had earlier convened the Supreme Security Council over coronavirus fears.
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.