Baghdad, Mar 5 (IANS): The Iraqi Health Ministry on Wednesday announced three more cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 35, including one death.

Two of the detected cases were in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala and one in Najaf province, the ministry said in a statement, without giving further details, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier in the day, the health authority in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan announced the first death from the novel coronavirus in Iraq for a 70-year-old man.

So far, Iraq has reported 35 COVID-19 cases, with 14 in the capital Baghdad, five in the province of Kirkuk, five in Sulaimaniyah, one in Babil, one in Maysan, four in Najaf, two in Wasit, one in Karbala and two in Diyala.

The Iraqi authorities have been taking a series of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus after cases were confirmed in the country.