BUENOS AIRES, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Argentinean authorities on Tuesday confirmed the country's first case of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).

The patient is a man, 43, who returned to the capital Buenos Aires on Sunday from a trip to Italy.

"The man was in several places in Europe, but mainly in Italy, in the north," Health Minister Gines Gonzalez told reporters at a press conference.

On his return flight, "he traveled in first class, which somewhat limits close contact" with others, said Gonzalez.

The patient told healthcare workers that he lives alone and had not gone out socially, so the chances of having infected others were low.

In Latin America, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico and the Dominican Republic have also reported cases of the new coronavirus.  ■