US citizen diagnosed with coronavirus dies in Wuhan, first reported foreigner death in China

The woman is the first known American to die of the novel coronavirus.

Jason Fan | February 08, 2020, 04:00 PM

A U.S. citizen diagnosed with the novel coronavirus has died in Wuhan, marking the first known American death from the virus.

The patient, whose gender was not stated, was also the first known foreigner to die of the coronavirus in China, according to AFP.

In addition, Bloomberg reported that a Japanese man suspected of contracting the virus has also died in Wuhan.

60-year-old U.S. national died on Feb. 6

According to AFP, the 60-year-old diagnosed with the coronavirus died on Thursday (Feb. 6) in Wuhan.

The information was provided by the U.S. embassy, which did not provide more details about the person.

The New York Times reported that the two people familiar with the matter said the person was a woman, and had existing health conditions prior to being infected with the coronavirus.

"We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their losses. Out of respect for the family's privacy, we have no further comment," said a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy.

Difficult to conclude whether Japanese man was infected

Bloomberg revealed that a Japanese man, whose cause of death was stated as viral pneumonia, has died in a Wuhan hospital.

Japan's foreign ministry said that although the man was suspected to have been infected with the novel coronavirus, it was "difficult to conclude definitively that he had the virus".

The man was reported to be in his 60s.

Global deaths

Prior to these announcements, there were only two known deaths from the novel coronavirus outside of mainland China.

On Feb. 2, the Philippines confirmed the first death of a patient with coronavirus, while on Feb. 4, Hong Kong confirmed its first death from the virus two days later.

The Philippines also announced the death of a second patient, who was being investigated on suspicions of having the novel coronavirus infection.

However, the death was classified as "a case of pneumonia in a patient with underlying restrictive lung disease", and not of the novel coronavirus.

As of Feb. 8, the death toll in mainland China has surged to 722, with 725 confirmed deaths worldwide from the virus.

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Top image from CGTN's YouTube channel.