Coronavirus: Iraq bans public gatherings, shuts schools
Health minister's decree also bans travellers from Kuwait and Bahrain
Cairo: Iraq reported the first case of coronavirus in the capital Baghdad on Thursday, its sixth in total.
A man contracted the virus after a trip to Iran, the health ministry said in a statement. He was in "good health" in a Baghdad hospital, it added.
Iraq banned all public gatherings and banned travellers from Kuwait and Bahrain from entry, the health minister said on Wednesday, taking the total number of countries on the entry ban list to nine amid growing fears over the spread of the coronavirus.
Iraqi citizens are now also banned from travelling to the nine countries which are China, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Italy, Bahrain, and Kuwait, the minister said in a decree seen by Reuters.
He also ordered the suspension of schools and university and the closure of cinemas, cafes, clubs, and other public gathering spots nationwide from February 27 to March 7.
Iraq is concerned about the spread of the coronavirus from neighbouring Iran, one of the worst-hit countries outside China where the virus originated late last year.
Iraq has cultural and religious ties with Iran and annually receives millions of Iranian pilgrims.
An Iraqi family of four who returned from Iran tested positive for the coronavirus in Kirkuk province on Tuesday. They were the first Iraqis known to have caught the disease, a day after an Iranian student in Najaf became Iraq's first confirmed case. He was later transferred to Iran.