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Estonia, Lithuania Report First Cases of Coronavirus


An Iranian woman wears a protective mask to prevent contracting coronavirus, as she sits in the bus in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 25, 2020.
An Iranian woman wears a protective mask to prevent contracting coronavirus, as she sits in the bus in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 25, 2020.

Two Baltic countries have reported their first case of coronavirus, each with mild symptoms.

Lithuania confirmed its first case Friday, detected in a woman who returned home after attending a conference with colleagues in Italy’s northern city of Verona.

The 39-year-old woman has mild symptoms and has been isolated in hospital in the northern town of Siauliai following her return Monday, Lithuanian Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga said at a late night press conference, adding that passengers seated beside the woman on the plane and in adjacent rows are going to undergo tests for the virus.

On Thursday, Estonia reported its first coronavirus case, a day after a man returned to the county from a business trip in his homeland, Iran.

Estonian Social Affairs Minister Tanel Kiik told public broadcaster ERR that the man is currently hospitalized.

“The person, a permanent resident of Estonia who is not a citizen, arrived in Estonia on Wednesday evening,” Kiik said.

According to local media, the man contacted Estonian health authorities himself upon his arrival in Tallinn by bus from the Latvian capital Riga, where he flew in from Istanbul.

Italy and Iran are among the countries with the largest numbers of COVID-19 cases outside Asia.

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