Bucharest, Mar 5 (IANS): A 71-year-old man from northern Romania tested positive on Wednesday with COVID-19, becoming thus the second confirmed case of the day and the sixth so far in the eastern European country.

The patient returned from Lombardy last Friday and was in self-quarantine. All infected people so far in Romania can be traced back to Italy, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The man showed up Monday at a local hospital in Suceava with fever and chills, and was immediately hospitalized, according to the Strategic Communication Group, a government agency authorised to publish official public information.

According to the same source, an epidemiological inquiry has now been launched to establish contacts.

Romania confirmed the first case of novel coronavirus last Wednesday after a 20-year-old Romanian was infected by a visiting Italian.

As of Wednesday, 35 people are currently in institutional quarantine in Romania nationwide, and 10,771 are monitored at home.

Romania has frequent people exchange with Italy. As of 2019, over 1.2 million Romanian citizens are living in Italy -- the largest Romanian immigrant population in any country, also the largest immigrant group within Italy.