Coronavirus cases surge to 240 in Germany

BERLIN (AA) - The number of coronavirus cases in Germany has jumped to 240, the country’s disease control agency announced on Wednesday.

Germany’s most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia recorded 111 cases, followed by the southeastern state of Bavaria with 44 new cases, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The number of confirmed coronavirus in the German capital of Berlin rose to 6. The recent statistics marked an increase of 52 cases in 24 hours.

16 patients, who were diagnosed earlier with the novel coronavirus, have reportedly recovered.

No deaths have occurred in Germany so far in connection with the new virus.

- Poland reports first COVID-19 case

In neighboring Poland, authorities announced on Wednesday the first confirmed case of the coronavirus, also known as the COVID-19.

Poland’s Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski told local media the patient was hospitalized on Monday and placed in isolation after testing positive for coronavirus.

He recently traveled to Poland from Germany, and authorities were trying to identify passengers who traveled on the bus together, local media reported.

The coronavirus has sounded global alarms, with China, the epicenter of the outbreak, reporting almost 3,000 deaths.

However, it also reported a constant drop in new cases with 119 new cases detected until Tuesday night, taking the number of total confirmed cases to 80,270.

Outside China, the virus has spread to at least 75 countries, with more than 10,000 infected.

The World Health Organization, which already declared the outbreak an international health emergency Friday, raised the global coronavirus alert level from high to “very high.”