Manila: A 44-year-old Chinese man who was diagnosed with the new strain of coronavirus last month in the Philippines, died in the country on Saturday, the World Health Organisation Philippines said on Sunday.
This is the first reported death from coronavirus outside of China, WHO Representative in the Philippines Rabi Abeyasinghe pointed out.
“This is the first reported case outside of China. However, we need to keep in mind that he came from Wuhan, China,” Abeyasinghe said, as tweeted by the WHO Philippines.
The deceased hailed from the Chinese city of Wuhan – which is the epicentre of the new strain of coronavirus — and was related to a woman who was the first to be diagnosed with the virus in the Philippines, the WHO said.
Coronavirus, which originated in China in December, last year, has killed 304 people in that country alone, while cases have been reported in several countries across the world.