Islamabad: Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed its first two cases of the novel coronavirus as the epidemic continued its march beyond China — the source of the outbreak.

"I can confirm first two cases of coronavirus in Pakistan. Both cases are being taken care of according to clinical standard protocols & both of them are stable," said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza via a tweet on Wednesday evening, Dawn reported.

"No need to panic, things are under control," he added.

Later, addressing a late-night press conference in Quetta, Mirza said one of the cases was reported in Sindh while the second was confirmed in "federal areas". He added that both the affected persons had travelled to Iran in the last two weeks. He, however, refused to comment further on the two cases.

In response to a question, he said 15 suspected cases of the virus are currently under investigation, while 100 cases have tested negative so far.