The Algerian health minister confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country in an official announcement on national television on Tuesday evening.
Minister Abdel Rahman Ben Bouzid said that the patient is an Italian who arrived in Algeria on February 17. He was placed in quarantine.
Algeria is the second country in Africa with a confirmed case of coronavirus.
Egypt is the first country on the continent to have a confirmed case of the disease, the epicenter of which is the Chinese city of Wuhan. But the patient is cured and is recovering, according to Egyptian health authorities.
Egypt had suspended its national airline’s flights with China in early February. About 300 Egyptians had been evacuated in February from Wuhan, the epicenter of the Chinese city, and had been quarantined for 14 days.
