Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday afternoon that the first patient infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) had been registered in the country.

The patient, a young man who has mild symptoms of this disease, has been admitted to the Fran Mihaljevic hospital in Zagreb and is isolated.

Croatia is prepared to take any measure necessary to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus, including coordination of activities with the Italian government, Plenkovic said on Monday evening.

“Today at 11:30 am we received information that a Croatian national, who has been to Milan on February 19-21, is exhibiting mild symptoms of the disease. We are taking precautionary measures,” Health Minister, Vili Beros, said.

The health services will now focus on tracking down all those with whom the infected man has been in contact since his return to the country, he added.

“As the virus has spread across the world, Croatia raised preparedness levels, our crisis management team has experienced staff and I expect them to engage fully. The message to the public is that all the relevant services are fully prepared,” Prime Minister Plenkovic said.

The Rijeka Hospital director is also expected to report soon on the condition of nine other Croatian nationals who were hospitalised after returning from the north of Italy recently.