Mauritania says free of coronavirus

NOUAKCHOTT 

No coronavirus infection has been reported in Mauritania, the country's health ministry confirmed on Tuesday.

Activists earlier said that a Mauritanian had died from the virus in the capital Nouakchott.

In a statement, the ministry said samples have been taken from two people suspected of having contracted the virus.

"Tests proved that they were not infected with the virus," the ministry said.

On Monday, Mauritania's neighbors, Senegal and Morocco, reported their first case of coronavirus.

The global death toll from the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has reached 3,044, with more than 89,000 infected.

The World Health Organization, which already declared the outbreak an international health emergency, has updated the global risk level to ‘very high.’

*Bassel Ibrahim contributed to this report from Ankara