Argentina, Chile and Western European country Liechtenstein detected the first cases of nCoV, bringing the number of countries and territories recorded Covid-19 to 80.

The first case in Argentina was a 43-year-old man who returned from Italy on March 1. Health Minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia yesterday said in Buenos Aires that the patient had been quarantined since he went to a private clinic in Buenos Aires the day he returned.

In addition to Italy, the man also went to other places in Europe. "Luckily, this case is not complicated," Garcia said, emphasizing that Argentina was prepared to deal with nCoV.

The first case in Chile was a 33-year-old man who had been in Southeast Asia for almost a month, mainly in Singapore, and returned home on February 25. He was treated at a hospital in the city of Talca, about 350 km south of Santiago, Chile's Health Minister said yesterday in Santiago.

Hospital director Talca Alfredo Donoso said the patient started showing symptoms a week after returning to Chile. "He was hospitalized with a high fever but then his temperature returned to normal and now he has no symptoms at all. He is in isolation at the hospital," Donoso said.

Liechtenstein, a Western European country between Switzerland and Austria, noted that the first case was a young man who had been in contact with a nCoV patient in Switzerland. Social Minister Mauro Pedrazzini said yesterday in the capital Vaduz that he had mild symptoms.

Covid-19 appeared in 80 countries and territories after it launched in China in December 2019. South Korea, Italy and Iran are epidemic hot spots outside of mainland China. The world recorded nearly 93,000 cases, more than 3,100 died and more than 48,000 recovered.