Chinese tourist dies in France, becomes first coronavirus fatality in Europe - French health minister

Marking the first fatality on European soil, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist succumbed to the coronavirus at a Paris hospital, Health Minister Agnes Buzin reported as the death toll of the epidemic has surpassed 1,500.

The elderly Chinese man had been hospitalized in Paris, Buzin told journalists on Saturday. He was put into quarantine, but his condition “had deteriorated rapidly,” the minister told local media. She said the 80-year-old arrived in France from the virus-hit province of Hubei.

The patient’s daughter, also suffering from the 2019-nCoV, as the virus is officially called, was also hospitalized, but “her condition is no longer a cause for concern and she is likely to be released soon.”

France has recorded 11 cases of the novel coronavirus. Previously, health officials said some of the patients who were being taken care of in hospitals in Paris and Bordeaux were ready to be released.

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