KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — All four suspected coronavirus cases in the country have tested negative, according to the Health Ministry.

The ministry confirmed that tests conducted on a suspected coronavirus (2019-nCoV) patient who is being treated at an isolation ward in a hospital in Sabah found the person to be negative for the virus.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the patient had symptoms of Influenza A and is recovering and in stable condition.

"This is to inform that the results of the detection and validation for 2019-nCoV virus on the patient by the Institute of Medical Reserach (IMR) confirmed that the patient is negative for Novel Coronavirus infection,” he said in a statement yesterday.

As such, he said, all four suspected 2019-nCoV cases reported so far, comprising two cases in Sabah and two cases in Selangor, were all negative for the virus.

In a statement issued earlier, Dr Noor Hisham had said the Health Ministry, through the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC), had received four suspected cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), namely two cases each in Selangor and Sabah. — Bernama