Cypriot resident tests negative for Wuhan bug

A young man from China, who was quarantined in Nicosia General Hospital in a suspected case of coronavirus, is going home on Sunday after testing negative for the Wuhan bug.

State officials on Sunday announced that the test results of the 22-year-old patient came back negative, after samples had been analyzed by the Hellenic Pasteur Institute in Athens, Greece.

The man, who had travelled to China and back last month and then went on a short trip to Egypt, was suspected of being a carrier of the coronavirus after landing at Larnaca International Airport on Friday.

Customs officials said a scan had shown signs of high fever and he was immediately isolated as a precaution. He was then taken to Nicosia General where he remained quarantined while waiting for test results.

But news emerged on Saturday that the traveler, a permanent resident of the Republic of Cyprus, had a very low chance of having contracted the coronavirus case. Nicosia doctors had also said he was quickly getting back to good health and his fever had subsided.

Officials confirmed his results came back negative on Sunday.

Meanwhile the number of global cases has been on the increase while the first death outside China was recorded in the Philippines this weekend.