UPDATES: Bosnia has 150 COVID-19 cases, Security Minister wants airport closed

He said the surgeon caught the virus outside of the of the hospital and that he was not in contact with any other health workers.

08:58 Bosnia’s security minister said on Tuesday he will insist on temporarily closing the Sarajevo International Airport for passengers as the country records 137 COVID-19 cases.

Health authorities in Konjic, the town where nearly two dozen people were infected during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of an arms factory, confirmed another four COVID-19 cases around midnight.

On Tuesday morning, the southwestern town of Siroki Brijeg saw its first confirmed COVID-19 case.

The coronavirus came to Bosnia in early March and since then the number of those who contracted it has been growing rapidly.

Curfews and other strict measures have been introduced across Bosnia and Herzegovina as authorities struggle to isolate the country from the outside as well as within.

Security Minister Fahrudin Radoncic requested the Sarajevo airport to be closed down.

“That should be done immediately,” he told the media, urging relevant authorities to make sure to close it for passengers but not for cargo.