KEMEROVO, March 14. /TASS/. A new type of coronavirus was confirmed in two residents of Russia's Kemerovo region, the press service of the regional administration told TASS on Saturday.

"Two cases were confirmed in Kemerovo, and one [person] is being monitored in Novokuznetsk," the press service said.

According to the Kuzbass administration, both patients are under the supervision of doctors in a city hospital, they are isolated and receive the necessary treatment. "All medical institutions of Kuzbass are put on alert: a procedure has been developed for receiving patients with suspected coronavirus, preparatory measures have been taken, there is enough medication and personal protective equipment," the office said.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in more than 120 countries, including Russia. Most cases outside of China have been recorded in South Korea, Iran and Italy.

The WHO has declared the outbreak a global pandemic as over 137,000 people have been infected around the world and over 5,000 people have died of it. Russia has so far confirmed 47 coronavirus cases.