Beijing:An American woman and a Japanese man became the first foreigners to have died from the new coronavirus in China as the death toll jumped to 723 in the country with the confirmed cases soaring to 34,598, health officials said on Saturday.
The American citizen died in Wuhan, the US embassy here said on Saturday, the first confirmed foreign death from the outbreak.
“We can confirm that a 60-year-old US citizen diagnosed with coronavirus died at Jinyintang hospital in Wuhan, China on February 6,” a US embassy spokesman said. “We offer sincerest condolences to the family for their loss,” Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted the spokesman as saying.
The New York Times reported that the person was a woman and had underlying health conditions, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said earlier that 19 foreign nationals in China have been confirmed to have contracted the virus and undergoing treatment in hospitals. Two of them were discharged after recovery, the ministry said without disclosing details. Earlier reports said that four Pakistanis and two Australians contracted the virus.
Though the US woman is officially stated to be the first foreigner to have died due to the coronavirus, a Japanese man hospitalised in Wuhan with pneumonia has also died, the Japan’s foreign ministry announced in Tokyo.
The Ministry citing Chinese medical authorities said on Saturday the man in his 60s, was possibly infected with the coronavirus but due to difficulties in diagnosing the disease his death had been attributed to viral pneumonia. His cause of death was given as viral pneumonia, it added. The man is potentially the first Japanese to have died from coronavirus, it said.
Eighty-six deaths were reported in mainland China with 3,399 fresh cases from 31 provincial-level regions, the country’s National Health Commission said on Saturday.
State-run CGTN television network reported that the death toll has climbed to 723 while confirmed cases jumped to 34,598.
Among the deaths, 81 are in Hubei province and its provincial capital Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, two in Heilongjiang, as well as one in Beijing, Henan and Gansu, the commission said.
By Friday, 26 confirmed cases, including one death, have been reported in Hong Kong. Macau reported 10 cases, while Taiwan reported 16 cases, it said. (PTI)
