The number of coronavirus infections in Montenegro increased to nine on Wednesday after the country's Public Health Institute confirmed seven new cases.

Earlier this week, after no cases had been reported for 42 weeks in a row, the health authorities detected the infection in two persons who had briefly visited Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“By 2100 hours on Wednesday, the Institute’s laboratories had analysed 200 samples, of which 193 were negative and seven positive for the new coronavirus. Four of the newly-infected persons are contacts of a case confirmed earlier, while the source of the infection in the three other cases is yet to be established,” the Institute said.

On June 1 Montenegro opened its borders to 130 countries where the number of active cases is below 25 per 100,000 inhabitants, including Croatia, and lifted most of the restrictions imposed to the contain the virus.

At the start of June, Montenegro declared the end of the coronavirus epidemic on its soil after no new cases were identified for 28 days in a row. On May 24 it became the first coronavirus-free country in Europe.