Liberia announced its first case of the novel coronavirus on Monday, becoming the 27th African country to confirm the illness.

The patient is the head of Liberia’s environmental agency and had recently returned from Switzerland, the information ministry said in a statement.

The coronavirus patient is Nathaniel Blama, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who returned to the country on Friday March 13 following a visit to Switzerland.

Chief Medical Officer Francis Kateh told Reuters;

“I can confirm that we have a case and we are managing it.”

President George Weah is expected to make a speech later in the day. Residents of the country have been asked to remain calm as health officials continue to trace all those the infected person came in contact with, as well as quarantine them for the incubation period of the virus.