Armenia on Tuesday, March 17 banned citizens of 16 nations from entering the country in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

In particular, citizens of China, Iran, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom will be unable to visit Armenia.

However, Armenian citizens returning from the countries in question will not be banned but will immediately be quarantined for a 14-day period.

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan said in a Facebook post that cargo transportation will continue uninterrupted.

The measures are taken as part of the state of emergency the country declared on Monday.

So far, 64 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been announced in the country.