A 44-year-old man in the Philippines has died of the coronavirus, health officials said Sunday, the first known death outside of China. A man from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus, passed away on Saturday.
“This is the first known death of a person infected with 2019-nCoV outside of China,” the Philippines office of the World Health Organization said in a statement.
Philippine health officials said the man arrived on January 21 with a 38-year-old woman who remains under surveillance.
'In the last few days, the patient has been stable and showed signs of improvement; however, the patient's condition worsened in the last 24 hours, leading to his death, 'said Minister of Health Francisco Duque III.
Hours before the death was announced, the Philippines said it was temporarily barring non-Filipino foreigners from arriving from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
The total number of infected as of 02.02.2020 is 14,500 people, deaths 305 (data is being updated).
Mr Duque said that 23 people are currently being observed in the Philippines who have been isolated in hospitals with possible symptoms of the coronavirus.
“We need new developments to provide a more thorough approach to deterring the 2019-nCoV threats,” he said.
