Northern Cyprus confirms total of 5 coronavirus cases
Turkish Cypriot Health Ministry confirms 3 more cases, added to 2 from earlier this week
LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) announced on Friday that five people in the country have now tested positive for the novel coronavirus, up from two.
In a statement, the country's Health Ministry said that two people from a German tourist group who were already under observation have tested positive for the virus.
A Turkish Cypriot citizen who returned to the country from Britain nine days ago was also diagnosed with COVID-19.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Ali Pilli announced the country's first case of the novel coronavirus, a 65-year-old tourist from Germany, who was joined on the case list on Thursday.
The TRNC had already announced that schools would be closed until March 15 as a precautionary measure.
The news followed Monday's announcement that two cases of the virus have been detected in the Greek Cyprus, the first to be confirmed on the divided island.
After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 118 countries and territories.
The global death toll is now nearly 5,000, with more than 132,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has declared the outbreak a global pandemic.
