By Recep Sakar
MELBOURNE, Australia (AA) - The death toll in Australia from the novel coronavirus rose to 27 on Friday after three elderly people died in two states.
Two women aged 70 and 75 and a man over 80s died of the COVID-19 virus in New South Wales and Victoria states, the health ministries of the states announced.
Also, number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country rose to 5,314, while a total of 520 people recovered so far.
Meanwhile, the government has called for retired healthcare staff, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists to return to their posts due to the increasing number of deaths and cases from the virus in the country.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that children of employees will be provided free care services in nurseries.
After first appearing in Wuhan, China in December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 181 countries and regions.
Data compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University shows worldwide infections surpassing 1 million with more than 53,000 deaths. Over 211,000 have recovered.