Georgia has eight new confirmed cases of COVID-19 increasing the total number of infected individuals to 23, Agenda.ge reports.

Head of Tbilisi Infectious Disease Hospital Tengiz Tsertsvadze that the new cases are again connected with Italy. In particular, all of the eight infected individuals had contact with those who tested positive for the coronavirus earlier.

On Tuesday, March 10, Georgia evacuated 156 citizens from Italy via a charter flight by Georgian Airways as the Italian government has placed the entire country under lockdown.

Amid the new coronavirus outbreak Georgia has suspended direct air traffic with China, Iran and Italy, which are currently the largest centres of the outbreak.