Speaking at a meeting of presidents of Iranian medical universities, Namaki said there has not been any confirmed case of coronavirus in Iran.

He also emphasized that two suspicious cases in the central city of Yazd are not infected with coronavirus by any means.

The minister explained that the incubation period of the novel coronavirus is below five days, while a Chinese national hospitalized in Yazd had arrived in Iran 12 days ago.

The Chinese patient in Yazd had a simple sore throat, and the tests indicate that the foreign patient is not infected with coronavirus at all, Namaki said, adding that a German citizen has also been kept in quarantine after he met with the Chinese citizen.

Hundreds of people have been infected by the Wuhan coronavirus in mainland China, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, and a number of the North American and European states.

The death toll from the new coronavirus now stands at 106, with the number of infections almost doubling in a day to more than 4,500.