Coronavirus death is first in Europe
Grace Hauck
France’s health minister said Saturday that a Chinese patient diagnosed with coronavirus died in a Paris hospital, the first death from the new virus in Europe.
Minister Agnes Buzyn said he was informed Friday night that an 80-year-old patient died from the new coronavirus, named COVID-19. The patient had been hospitalized at Bichat-claude Bernard Hospital in Paris since Jan. 25.
The patient, a Chinese tourist from the province of Hubei, had a lung infection caused by the COVID-19 virus. He arrived in France on Jan.16 and was hospitalized Jan. 25 under strict isolation measures. His condition deteriorated rapidly. His daughter was also hospitalized but is expected to recover.
Europe has reported 46 cases of the virus that first emerged in central China in December. Nine European nations have reported cases, with Germany having the most at 16.
The World Health Organization had not yet confirmed the death of the coronavirus patient.
The head of the U.N. health angency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged governments to step up their efforts to prepare for the virus, saying “it’s impossible to predict which direction this epidemic will take.”
Tedros told a gathering of international foreign and security policy leaders in Germany on Saturday that WHO is encouraged there has not yet been widespread transmission outside China and that “the steps China has taken to contain the outbreak at its source appear to have bought the world time.”
China reported a dip in new cases Saturday. Confirmed cases of the virus in China rose to 66,492 and the number of deaths rose to 1,523, according to China’s National Health Commission.
“We’re encouraged that an international team of experts is now on the ground working closely with Chinese counterparts to understand the outbreak,” Tedros told the Munich Security Conference.
Medical workers account for a small percentage of those infections. More than 1,700 Chinese medical workers have been infected by the new coronavirus and six have died, a senior Chinese official said Friday.
More than 580 cases have been confirmed outside mainland China.
As of Saturday morning, 67,091 people worldwide had been infected with the virus, including 15 in the U.S., according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. was expected to evacuate nearly 400 American passengers under quarantine due to coronavirus on board Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Japan announced Saturday.
The Diamond Princess is thought to be the largest group of coronavirus patients outside China. So far, 285 people from the ship have tested positive for the virus, after 67 new cases were found Saturday. They include at least 20 Americans.
Those who return to the U.S. will fly to Travis Air Force Base in California and some will then go to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, said an embassy statement. It said no one with symptoms would be allowed aboard the flight.
Contributing: Associated Press