A US citizen has died from the new coronavirus at the epicenter of the epidemic in China, the US embassy said Saturday, in what appeared to be the first confirmed foreign death from the outbreak.
“We can confirm that a 60-year-old US citizen diagnosed with coronavirus died at a hospital in Wuhan,China, on February 6,” an embassy spokesman told AFP, without specifying the person’s gender.
“We offer the sincerest condolences to the family for their loss,” the spokesman said, adding that no further comment would be made out of respect for the family’s privacy.
Two people have died from the virus outside the mainland: a man from Wuhan in the Philippines and a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong.
The Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday that 19 foreigners have been infected in China, and two of them have recovered. The ministry refused to disclose their nationalities.
JAPANESE MAN
A Japanese man with a suspected coronavirus infection has died in hospital in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the Japanese foreign ministry said Saturday.
The man in his 60s had been hospitalized due to severe pneumonia and the hospital reported his death to the Japanese embassy in China, the ministry said in a statement.
Chinese medical authorities said the man was highly likely to have been infected with the new coronavirus but “it is difficult to make a definitive judgment,” the statement said.
His cause of death was given as viral pneumonia, it added.
The man would be the first Japanese victim of the outbreak if his infection is confirmed. (AFP)
