Shawdesh Desk:

Two more residents of the UAE, including a Bangladeshi national, have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of people diagnosed with the virus in the Gulf Arab state to 11, the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention said on Friday.

The two patients are: a 34-year-old resident from Philippines and a 39-year-old from Bangladesh. They were in direct contact with the Chinese patient recently diagnosed with coronavirus and are now in a stable health condition, the ministry said. Neither of the patients was named.

The ministry affirmed that all people in direct contact with the coronavirus patients are being checked to ensure the safety of the community and that the disease will not break out in the country.

The ministry emphasised that it is taking all necessary and precautionary measures, including investigating, examining and following up on those who were in contact with the patients, in cooperation with health authorities in the country.

The ministry urged the public to follow the preventive procedures and to read the virus-awareness instructions, available on its website and the official websites of health authorities in the UAE.

More than 2,360 people have died in China from the new virus that emerged in Wuhan in December. New research suggesting the virus is more contagious than previously thought has added to the international alarm over the outbreak.