The public health minister Ferozuddin Feroz on Tuesday said seven more suspected cases of coronavirus were reported in the western province of Herat which shares borders with Iran.

On Monday, the minister during a press conference in Kabul confirmed the first coronavirus case in the province.

This is the first reported case in Afghanistan.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Public Health had reported three suspected cases of coronavirus in Herat.

“Two of the cases were negative but one was positive,” said Feroz, adding that “preparations already took place” to respond to the coronavirus.

The infected person is Herat residents who recently returned from Qom city in Iran, the Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar told TOLOnews.

Afghanistan has said that all travel to and from Iran has been temporarily banned to prevent the coronavirus outbreak.

Based on this decision, trade relations between the two neighboring countries will also be stopped for an unknown time.

In Iran, the virus has killed 12 while 61 cases of infection reported in this country, according to state media reports.