Officials search for infected taxicab passenger

State authorities in the Republic of Cyprus are on full alert after four more coronavirus cases were confirmed on Wednesday, with health officials scrambling to track down passengers of a taxicab driver who tested positive.

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The coronavirus outbreak, which was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on Wednesday, has infected at least seven people on the island, six in the south including a Greek national and one foreign tourist in the north.

Another case was confirmed in Turkey while Greece reported its first death after a Greek national was infected after a foreign trip.

One of the latest cases in Cyprus, a local taxi driver in the south, was the only confirmed carrier on the island who did not travel abroad. Reports said health officials were scrambling to track down all his passengers over the last few days.

The taxicab driver, described as a Greek Cypriot man, said he was not in position to identify his passengers.

Health officials were said to be employing all resources and tools available to them to trace and track down the person or persons who may have infected the cabbie.