Turkey confirms 5th coronavirus case

By Erdogan Cagatay Zontur

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey confirmed three more coronavirus cases on Friday, raising the tally to five.

"After our first two cases, we confirmed three new cases who came in contact with them and were from the same family. All five cases are directly related," said Fahrettin Koca in a news conference.

Koca said Turkey has banned flights to 14 countries as part of measures to stem the coronavirus outbreak.

He said that Turkish citizens who visit foreign countries will have to take 14 days off from work and spend the time in self-isolation.

Visitors to hospitals will only be allowed after working hours and those visits too will be limited, the health minister said.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 123 countries and territories.

The global death toll is now nearly 5,000, with more than 132,500 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization, which declared the outbreak a pandemic.

A vast majority of those who become infected recover from the illness.