HELSINKI, March 10. /TASS/. Frank Bakke-Jensen, the Minister of Defense of Norway has been quarantined over the coronavirus, Aftenposten newspaper reported Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the minister cancelled all visits and meetings planned for upcoming days. The Ministry of Defense confirmed the reports.

However, the Ministry refused to clarify why such measures have been taken and under what circumstances the minister could have contacted the infected.

On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities reported to the World Health Organization about an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, an economic and industrial megalopolis with a population of 11 million.

The virus was identified on January 7 as 2019-nCoV. As of today, 115 countries and territories, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases.

The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on February 11 that the organization gave the novel coronavirus an official name of COVID-19.

According to the latest reports, over 116,350 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide. The virus’ death toll has reached 4,091, yet more than 64,640 patients have recovered from the disease.