Brazil Confirms First Coronavirus Case In South America - Reports

A man in Brazil's Sao Paulo has been diagnosed with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), making this the first such case to be registered in South America, media reported on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2020) A man in Brazil's Sao Paulo has been diagnosed with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), making this the first such case to be registered in South America, media reported on Wednesday.

According to the Uruguay-based MercoPress news agency, citing the Brazilian Health Ministry, the 61-years-old businessman, who recently traveled to northern Italy, was first thought to be infected on Tuesday, and his diagnosis was confirmed the following day.

Italy has been hit the hardest by COVID-19 after China, South Korea and Japan. According to the latest data from the Italian National Civil Protection Service, the country has registered and more than 320 coronavirus cases on its soil.

On Tuesday, Algeria and Croatia reported their first cases of the disease � one of the patients is Italian and the other recently returned from Milan.

Austria and Switzerland have also detected the new coronavirus in regions that border Italy.