Coronavirus: first American dies of virus in China's Wuhan

Few details about the 60-year-old American were immediately available

Residents in Singapore stock up on food and necessities after the Singapore Ministry of Health raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level from yellow to orange with regards to the coronavirus outbreak, meaning that the virus is spreading but is still being contained. EPA

A Chinese woman wears a protective mask and rubber gloves as she walks by the Drum Tower in Beijing, China. Getty Images

Passengers on board a bus shortly before their departure from Tuen Mun in Hong Kong to Shenzhen, via the Shenzhen Bay Bridge. AFP

Canadian Forces personnel stand by to assist Canadians evacuated from China as they disembark from a plane at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. Reuters

Customers walk by an almost empty shelf of canned food and instant noodles at a supermarket in Singapore. EPA

Medical workers in protective suits are seen at the Wuhan Parlor Convention Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Reuters

A customer walks by an almost empty shelf of canned food and instant noodles at a supermarket in Singapore. EPA

A worker measures body temperature of people leaving a supermarket in Qingshan district following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Reuters

A volunteer helps residents who are affected by the measures to prevent and control the novel coronavirus to purchase daily necessities from a store in Tangshan, Hebei province, China. Reuters

A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she waits for a bus in Beijing, China. Getty Images

Flight attendants wearing protective clothing and masks serve snacks to Canadians, who had been evacuated from China due to the outbreak of novel Coronavirus on an American charter plane, on another aircraft taking them to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton, from Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Reuters

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer wearing a mask checks Canadians evacuated from China. Reuters

Staff from the US embassy board a cargo plane, chartered by the US State Department to evacuate Americans and Canadians from China. Reuters

Passengers wearing masks, following the coronavirus outbreak in China, arrive at the Tom Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters

A United States citizen has died in the Chinese city of Wuhan in what appeared to be the first death of an American from the new coronavirus outbreak that has left hundreds dead, the US embassy in Beijing said on Saturday.

“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” said a spokesman for the embassy. “Out of respect for the family’s privacy, we have no further comment.”

Little was known about the American national who died on Thursday, but the New York Times reported the person was 60 years old.

The US announced on Friday a wave of assistance to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

"The United States government is announcing it is prepared to spend up to $100 million in existing funds to assist China and other impacted countries, both directly and through multilateral organisations, to contain and combat the novel coronavirus," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

The development comes on the same day that a Japanese man hospitalised with pneumonia in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, died.

The man in his sixties was suspected of having been infected with the coronavirus but due to difficulties in diagnosing the disease the cause of death was given as viral pneumonia, the foreign ministry said citing Chinese medical authorities.

The man is potentially the first Japanese to have died of the disease, as a foreign ministry official said the government does not know of any Japanese that have died from the coronavirus epidemic, which has killed more than 700 people in mainland China and infected over 34,000.

As of noon Thursday, there had been 19 cases of foreigners infected with the coronavirus, of which two had been discharged from hospital and 17 were being quarantined and treated, Hua Chunying, spokeswoman at the Chinese foreign ministry, told reporters at a regular briefing last Thursday. (