Belarus reports first coronavirus case

Minsk: Belarus reported Friday its first coronavirus case, an Iranian student who arrived in the country from Azerbaijan last week.

The health ministry said the patient was in a "satisfactory" condition.

People the student had been in contact with since their arrival on February 22 had been placed in quarantine in the hospital for infectious diseases in the capital Minsk, it added in a statement.

The ministry also said that there would now be health checks on anyone arriving in the country from Italy -- the worst affected country in Europe -- Iran and South Korea.

Travellers from China were already subject to such controls.