Passenger with COVID-19 aboard Turkish plane French national

ANKARA

A passenger who tested positive for coronavirus after traveling from London to Singapore on a Turkish Airlines flight is a French national, Turkey's health minister said Thursday.

The flight returned empty from Singapore and the crew will be quarantined for 14 days, said Fahrettin Koca.

The coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to more than 80 countries.

It has infected more than 95,000 people and claimed over 32,00 lives globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

As part of their efforts to contain the outbreak, many governments closed their borders and suspended land and air services with the worst-affected countries such as South Korea, Italy and China.

The WHO, which already declared the outbreak an international health emergency, last week upgraded the global risk level to very high.