Coronavirus cases continue to rise across Europe

The number of novel coronavirus cases in Europe continues to rise, with more countries on the continent confirming their first cases.      

French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 38.     

According to French media, the National Assembly asked a lawmaker who travelled to China to stay at home for 14 days as a precautionary measure.     

In Italy, the worst-hit country in Europe, the number of coronavirus cases has risen to 650, according to local media.     

The death toll in Italy has risen to 17, according to the latest figures released by the country's head of civil protection.     

The Netherlands and Northern Ireland reported their first confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.     

Health authorities said the number of novel coronavirus cases in the U.K. had risen to 16.     

Landlocked Austria, which borders Italy to the south, confirmed two new cases of the virus, bringing the total to five.     

Spanish authorities said the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country had reached 23.     

Sweden's Public Health Agency said that the novel coronavirus was detected in five more people.     

The agency said the total number of confirmed cases had risen to seven.
New cases reported in the Middle East
Iraq and Lebanon both reported new cases of the novel coronavirus as it continues to spread throughout the Middle East.

The number of confirmed cases of the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has risen to seven in Iraq and three in Lebanon.

Two more cases were confirmed in Baghdad and Kirkuk, said a Health Ministry spokesman.

One of them, a...

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