TUNIS

Tunisia's death toll from the novel coronavirus has risen to three, according to the country's health minister on Sunday.

Abdellatif Mekki said in a statement that an elderly man had died in the capital Tunis, taking the overall deaths from the disease to three.

The North African country confirmed its first death from the virus on Thursday.

The country, which has confirmed 60 coronavirus cases so far, has launched a nation-wide quarantine as part of measures to halt the spread of the disease.

The virus, which causes the disease known as COVID-19, emerged in Wuhan, China last December, and has spread to at least 166 countries and territories, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Out of over 307,000 confirmed cases, the death toll now exceeds 13,000, and more than 92,000 have recovered.

Despite the rising number of cases, most of the people who contract the virus suffer only mild symptoms before making a recovery.

* Bassel Ibrahim contributed to this report from Ankara