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France Announces First Coronavirus Death In Europe

Published:Saturday | February 15, 2020 | 2:25 PM
Travelers wear face masks as they walk outside the Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020. People returning to Beijing will now have to isolate themselves either at home or in a concentrated area for medical observation, said a notice from the Chinese capital's prevention and control work group published by state media late Friday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

PARIS (AP) — France’s health minister on Saturday announced the first coronavirus death in Europe, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist who other French authorities say was initially turned away from two French hospitals when he first fell ill.

Minister Agnes Buzyn said she was informed Friday night of the death of the patient, who had been in intensive care at Bichat Hospital in Paris after testing positive in late January.

His daughter also tested positive for the virus that has spread across central China and was hospitalised. However, the health minister said she was doing well and should be leaving Bichat shortly. The hospital is among a handful in France with special isolation rooms.

As of Saturday, four of the 11 confirmed virus cases in France have been “cured” and left the hospital, the latest a French physician on Friday, she said. Six others still remain hospitalised.

The deceased patient, a Chinese tourist from the province of Hubei, had a serious lung infection caused by the COVID-19 virus.

Nine European countries collectively have 46 cases of the virus that first emerged in central China in December, with Germany having the most at 16.

The virus has infected more than 67,000 people globally and has killed at least 1,526 patients, the vast majority in China. The World Health Organisation has called the virus a threat to global health.

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