BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon has asked all schools, universities and nurseries to close until March 8 as a precautionary measure against the new coronavirus.
The country has so far registered seven cases of the virus that was first detected in China late last year, while dozens have undergone testing and are either awaiting results or have tested negative.
Three of the patients - two Lebanese and an Iranian - had returned from Iran, the regional epicentre of the virus.
The fourth case, a Syrian national, is suspected of having come in contact with someone who visited Iran, Lebanon's health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Three of the cases were in stable condition, but one elderly patient suffered from several diseases that predate his coronavirus infection and "his condition is unstable".
Later on Saturday, the ministry said the number of cases had risen to seven, with the three new patients having previously come in contact with infected people.
All patients are currently in quarantine at Rafik Hariri University Hospital in the capital, Beirut.
Almost all educational institutions are expected to respect Education Minister Tarek Majzoub's request late on Friday about the closure.
However, the prestigious American University of Beirut, which has about 10,000 students, announced that it would remain open, "based upon consultations with several experts in the field of infectious diseases". (Aljazeera)