First coronavirus death confirmed in Europe as Chinese tourist dies

A Chinese tourist has died in France after contracting the coronavirus, the first fatality from the disease in Europe.

A GP surgery in the UK being cleaned. Pic: Steve Parsons/PA.

The BBC reports that the victim was an 80-year-old woman from China's Hubei province, according to French Health Minister Agnès Buzyn.

The woman arrived in France on January 16th and was placed in quarantine in hospital nine days later.

Only three deaths had previously been reported outside mainland China - in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan.

But more than 1,500 people have died from the deadly virus within China, mainly in Hubei where it first emerged.