Bahrain and Kuwait Monday announced their first cases of the novel coronavirus.
Kuwait said three people, including a Saudi national, who returned from Iran were infected by the coronavirus, known as COVID-19, state news agency KUNA said. The three cases were among the 700 people evacuated from the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad last week, it added. Iraq has shut its Safwan border crossing with Kuwait to travelers and trade at Kuwait's request, the local mayor told Reuters on Monday.
Bahrain's first case was also a citizen who recently arrived from Iran.
Iran reported eight deaths from the virus – the highest toll outside of China. The Iranian health ministry said there were now 43 confirmed cases in Iran, which did not report its first case of the virus until Wednesday.
A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 78,000 people globally and killed more than 2,500. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.
