It's a rise from the 21 reported on Thursday, March 19.

There are now 40 confirmed cases of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus in Ukraine, an increase from the 21 reported on Thursday, March 19.

The updated figure from the Ukrainian Health Ministry's Public Health Center represents the number of confirmed cases as of 22:00 Kyiv time on Friday, March 20.

In particular, the virological reference laboratory of Ukraine's Public Health Center has reported 18 confirmed cases: Chernivtsi region (10), Zhytomyr region (1), Kyiv region (2), Donetsk region (1), Ivano-Frankivsk region 1 (+1), and the city of Kyiv (2).

The virological reference laboratory of Ukraine's Public Health Center says it checks not only suspected cases, but also established contacts. In total, it has examined over 750 samples.

Read alsoUkraine's Health Minister predicts confirmed COVID-19 cases will be on the rise

What is more, the remaining confirmed cases by reported by regional laboratories: Chernivtsi region (+15), Dnipropetrovsk region (2), Zhytomyr region (1), Kharkiv region (+1), Lviv region (+1), Kyiv region (+1), and the city of Kyiv (1).

Three of the confirmed cases were fatal. The first death from the new coronavirus in the country (a 71-year-old woman in Zhytomyr region) was reported on March 13. The second death – a 33-year-old woman tested positive on March 17 – was reported in Chernivtsi region. The third fatal case was a 56-year-old woman, who died in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk on March 18.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's Health Minister Illia Yemets predicts that the confirmed cases in Ukraine will be on the rise.