Lithuania registers 1st domestically-contracted coronavirus case

Lithuania has registered its first case of domestically-contracted coronavirus in a person who was infected by a family member who had recently returned from the United Kingdom, Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga said on Wednesday.

"We have the first cluster case, a person who was infected in Lithuania by another person who had returned (from abroad)," the minister said. "This is a cluster case; we can trace it. A family member was infected by another family member who had come home from abroad."

The latest patient is a high-risk group for coronavirus due to his age, he added.

According to the Health Ministry, the person who transmitted the infection to his family member defied the mandatory 14-day self-isolation order after coming back from the UK on March 11. He visited a dentist's office, too.

All previous COVID-19 cases in Lithuania are thought to have been contracted abroad.