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XINHUA

The Mexican government announced on Friday the country’s first case of COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, on Friday, Feb. 28.

Mexican Public Health Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez said in a news conference that a 35-year-old man had tested positive for the virus.

The patient, who had recently traveled to northern Italy, tested positive in two separate tests on Thursday, Feb. 27, and in one more early Friday morning, López-Gatell Ramírez said.

The Public Health Secretariat official also reported that there are five people close to the patient who are already under review and isolation, adding that there is low risk that the patient will infect others in Mexico.