Kyrgyzstan reports first 3 cases of coronavirus

Kyrgyzstan Health Ministry on Wednesday reported the first three cases of the novel coronavirus in the country, involving people with travel history to Saudi Arabia.

All three people hail from the Jalal-Abad region and had returned to the country from Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, Health Minister Kosmosbek Cholponbaev said at a press briefing.

"Upon arrival, they were placed in home quarantine and doctors visited their homes daily. Samples were taken from eight people, but three people tested positive," Cholponbaev said, as cited by Xinhua, adding that their health condition is stable.

Cholponbaev added that there were a total of 135 people on the plane on which the three patients flew and 90 of them are currently isolated and placed in observation.

Globally, 184,976 people have been infected, while 7,529 have died from COVID-19, as per the latest available data on the World Health Organisation (WHO) website.