Bosnia and Herzegovina confirm first case of novel coronavirus

Fahrudin Radoncic, Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), answers questions of the press after a meeting of BiH's Council of Ministers on the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on March 5, 2020. The first case of novel coronavirus disease has been confirmed in the region of Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), the RS Health Ministry said Thursday. (Photo by Nedim Grabovica/Xinhua)

Fahrudin Radoncic, Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), answers questions of the press after a meeting of BiH's Council of Ministers on the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on March 5, 2020. The first case of novel coronavirus disease has been confirmed in the region of Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), the RS Health Ministry said Thursday. (Photo by Nedim Grabovica/Xinhua)

Published Mar 6, 2020

Share

SARAJEVO - The first case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the region of Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), the RS Health Ministry said Thursday.

The patient with confirmed infection lives in Banja Luka, the second largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the ministry was quoted by the country's most visited website Klix as saying. And the regional health ministry will hold a news conference later.

So far more than 400 people in the country have been under health and epidemiological surveillance, with about 260 people in the entity of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and others in the RS, it said.

A worker closes the gate of a school in Banja Luka, Bosnia, Thursday, March 5, 2020. Officials in Bosnia said Thursday that the first people confirmed with the new coronavirus is a middle-aged man who was working in Italy and returned to the northwestern town of Banja Luka late last month, and the man's child, who is of school age, has also been confirmed with the virus. (AP Photo/Radivoje Pavicic)

In response to a possible COVID-19 epidemic, the country has taken some measures including intensifying border controls and increasing medical supplies.

Fahrudin Radoncic, Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), answers questions of the press after a meeting of BiH's Council of Ministers on the first confirmed case of novel coronavirus in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on March 6, 2020. The first case of novel coronavirus disease has been confirmed in the region of Republika Srpska (RS), one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH), the RS Health Ministry said Thursday. (Photo by Nedim Grabovica/Xinhua)

Related Topics: