One suspected case of coronavirus was reported at the Mumbai airport on Sunday even as the outbreaks spread to new territory globally, Pakistan will seal it border with Afghanistan, and New Delhi got in touch with Iran to facilitate the return of Indians who are struck in that virus-hit country.

Reports said since January 19, a total of 59,654 passengers have been screened at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mumbai International Airport for suspected exposure to the coronavirus (Covid-19). One of the passengers is believed to be infected with the virus.

Meanwhile, reports said the Modi Government has received reports of Indians, including fishermen stuck in Iran due to the coronavirus outbreak and the embassy in Tehran is in touch with local authorities on the issue, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Sunday.

Indian envoy to Iran Gaddam Dharmendra had on Saturday said the authorities are working to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to go back home and discussions were underway with authorities.

“Received reports on Indians, including fishermen from Kerala, stuck in Iran due to #COVID19. Our Embassy in Tehran is making an assessment of the situation and is in touch with local authorities,” Muraleedharan said in a tweet.

Iran’s Health Ministry on Sunday reported 11 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 385 infections, bringing the overall number of lives lost to 54 and cases to 978.

“In view of COVID19, working to facilitate the return of those Indians wishing to go back home. Discussions underway with concerned authorities to work out arrangements. Will keep you updated (sic),” Dharmendra had said on Twitter.

A PTI report from Islamabad said that Pakistan will close its border with Afghanistan for seven days from Monday to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday, as the authorities ramped up efforts to stop the new cases of infection.

The announcement came a day after two more people tested positive for the coronavirus in Pakistan, taking the total number of infections in the country to four. The border at Chaman in Balochistan will remain closed for seven days from March 2 “in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus on both sides of the border in the best interest of the people of the brotherly countries,” said a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior.

A report by news agency AP datelined Tokyo said infections and deaths continued to rise across the globe on Sunday, emptying streets of tourists and workers, shaking economies and rewriting the realities of daily life.

Panic-buying of daily necessities emerged in Japan, tourist sites across Asia, Europe and the Mideast were deserted, and Governments closed schools and banned big gatherings. Amusement parks have been shuttered and concerts cancelled.

In Paris, the Louvre Museum closed its doors and priests stopped placing sacramental bread in worshippers’ mouths.

While the new coronavirus has extended its reach across the world, geographic clusters of infections were emerging, with Iran, Italy and South Korea seeing rising cases. The United States, meanwhile, recorded its first death, a man in his 50s in Washington who had underlying health conditions but who hadn’t travelled to any affected areas.

“Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover,” President Donald Trump said at a Saturday briefing, where officials announced heightened warnings about travel to certain regions of Italy and South Korea as well as a ban on travel to Iran.

China on Sunday reported a slight uptick in new cases over the past 24 hours to 573, the first time in five days that number has exceeded 500. They remain almost entirely confined to the hardest-hit province of Hubei and its capital, Wuhan.

South Korea reported 210 additional cases and two more deaths from the virus, raising its totals to 3,736 cases and 20 fatalities. South Korea has confirmed the second largest number of virus infections outside mainland China, with most of the cases reported in the southeastern city of Daegu