First coronavirus death in Europe as France confirms death of Chinese tourist

15 February 2020, 21:09 | Updated: 24 February 2020, 07:22

A Chinese tourist has died from the coronavirus in France in the first death from the disease recorded outside Asia.

The victim was aged 80 and arrived in France from Hubei province according to France’s health minister.

The tourist arrived in France on January 16 and was placed in quarantine on January 25.

French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn confirmed the death today. The man's daughter was also taken to hospital but authorities say she is expected to recover.

Three deaths have been reported outside China. One in Hong Kong, one in the Philippines and one in Japan.

The death toll from the strain of coronavirus - also known as Covid-19 - in mainland China has passed 1,500 after health authorities reported another 143 deaths early on Saturday morning.

That increase saw the total reach 1,523 deaths.

Authorities also said the latest 2,641 daily new cases of the virus were a "major drop" and due to the widespread implementation a new diagnostic method.

The total number of confirmed cases in the country now stands at 66,492, according to China's National Health Commission.