Kuwait City (ANN)-Kuwaiti Airways has suspended all its flights to Iran since Friday after reports of an outbreak of coronavirus in the country, QNA reported.

In a statement, the airways confirmed: “Based on directions of the ministry of health and public management for civil aviation, all flights to Iran were suspended until further notice.”

The statement pointed out that the suspension, which started on Friday, came after reports of an outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran.

Meanwhile, the statement noted that the suspension took place in order to avoid potential disease transmission among passengers.

Early on Friday, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry asked the Kuwaitis not to travel to the Iranian city of Qum, south of Tehran, after reports of the disease reaching it and two deaths already occurring.

Read: Iraq shuts border with Iran over coronavirus fears

The ministry also announced that it would turn all the passengers travelling from Qum to quarantine, until they are confirmed free of the virus.

Reuters reported Iranian state TV on Saturday stating that the mayor of district 13 of the capital of Tehran, Morteza Rahmanzadeh, was hospitalised with coronavirus symptoms on Friday.

But Fars News Agency, according to Reuters, later tweeted that the director of public relations for district 13 had denied that Rahmanzadeh had contracted the virus, stating that he was in good health.