THE UNITED NATIONS, March 13. /TASS/. A staff member at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a source at the international organization told TASS on Thursday.

This is the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus at the UN headquarters in New York.

"In the interest of transparency and public safety, I would like to inform you that a colleague at the Philippine Mission tested positive today for COVID-19," the source said. "She last visited the UN last Monday, March 9, for about 30 minutes — from 12.50 to 1.20 pm. She was asymptomatic then," the source added.

"As of today, the Philippine Mission is in lockdown, and all personnel are instructed to self quarantine and to seek medical attention should they develop the symptoms," the source noted.

The Chinese authorities registered an outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the city of Wuhan. Cases of novel coronavirus were confirmed in more than 100 countries and territories, including in Russia. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Outside of China, most cases of the new coronavirus were reported in South Korea, Iran and Italy.

Over 118,000 cases of novel coronavirus were confirmed in the world so far, and the death toll exceeded 4,300.