Coronavirus reaches Ecuador

Ecuador has confirmed the first case of a fast-spreading new coronavirus in the Andean country, its health minister said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

The patient is an elderly female Ecuadorean residing in Spain, Catalina Andramuño, the health minister, told reporters. The patient arrived in Ecuador on Feb. 14 on a direct flight from Madrid without showing any symptoms, but soon felt ill and went to a hospital where she was diagnosed with the coronavirus.