February 02, 2020, 12:08 PM
The Philippines has reported the first death from the Wuhan novel coronavirus that took place outside of China.
On Feb. 2, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Philippines announced that the patient who died was a 44-year-old resident of Wuhan, China who had travelled to the Philippines.
He passed away on Feb. 1, Saturday.
A 44-year-old male is confirmed as the second person with the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines. He passed away on 1 February 2020. pic.twitter.com/5a5tPWtvpc
— World Health Organization Philippines (@WHOPhilippines) February 2, 2020
However, the WHO did not state in the tweet if the patient was a Chinese national, or a citizen of the Philippines.
WHO representative to the Philippines, Rabindra Abeyasinghe, clarified that this was not a locally acquired case. "This patient came from the epicentre of this outbreak," he said to reporters, according to CNA.
Officials in the Philippines added that there were "mixed pathogens" in the patient's body.
Secretary Duque said there are mixed pathogens in the 44-year-old male including Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenza type b. pic.twitter.com/opV9y3nD9A
— World Health Organization Philippines (@WHOPhilippines) February 2, 2020
The Philippines previously banned all flights to Wuhan, and repatriated 460 Wuhan tourists back to China.
As of Feb. 2, China reported that over 300 people have died of the Wuhan virus.
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Top image from WHOPhilippines Twitter.
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