The coronavirus outbreak that started in China has infected tens of thousands of people around the world – most of them in mainland China. On Saturday, France’s health minister announced the first death from coronavirus in Europe.
The patient was an 80-year-old Chinese tourist who went to France in mid-January and was hospitalized later that month with a lung infection, according to French Health Minister Agnès Buzyn.
The virus has killed more than 1,500 people and spread to more than two dozen countries.
The United States is now planning to bring Americans home from a cruise ship that’s been quarantined in Japan. More than 200 people onboard the ship have tested positive for the virus.
There are 15 confirmed cases of the virus in the United States, but none are said to be suffering serious symptoms. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is setting up five labs around the country where people with flu-like symptoms can be tested for coronavirus if their flu results are negative.
