ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq's Minister of Foreign Affairs has ordered embassies in seven mostly Asian coronavirus-hit countries not to issue visas for entry into Iraq, amid fears of a full-blown outbreak in the country.

The visa suspension applies to China, Iran, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand,according to a statement issued Wednesday by ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson Ahmad al-Sahaf.

Diplomatic mission staff, official delegation members, and Iraqis residing in these countries will be exempt from the ban. However, they will have to undergo medical checks upon entry to Iraq.

The first recorded incidence of coronavirus was in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019. The virus has since spread to 34 countries, killing over 2,600 people – the vast majority in China.

Outbreak in the Middle East has been most lethal in Iran, where 15 people have so far been confirmed killed by the virus – the largest death toll from the disease outside of China.

Cases in other Middle Eastern countries including Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman have come from arrivals from Iran.

Iraq’s health ministry confirmed its first case, an Iranian student of religion, in the holy city of Najaf on Monday. Four more cases of the disease, all from one family from Kirkuk who had returned from a trip to Iran, were confirmed on Tuesday.

Kurdistan Region officials said Tuesday that no cases of the disease had been recorded in areas under their control. However, they announced restrictions on free movement between Iraqi and Kurdistan Region provinces to limit spread of the disease. Educational institutions in the Region have also been ordered shut.

Rudaw