BREAKING First coronavirus death in Europe as patient dies in France from disease

BREAKING First coronavirus death in Europe as patient dies in France from disease The Chinese national, aged 80, died as a result of the deadly virus having been in intensive care, the French health minister said this morning. It is the first death in Europe, while the death toll now stands at 1,523 in China An 80-year-old tourist has become the first person to die in Europe from coronavirus, authorities in France confirmed. The patient, a Chinese national, had been in intensive care, but medics were unable to save their life. The death was announced by French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn this morning, but no further details about the victim have been revealed. France has recorded 11 cases of the virus, out of a global total of 63,851. The total number of infections across mainland China was 66,492 after 2,641 new cases were confirmed as of Friday, the National Health Commission said. The death toll rose by 143 to 1,523, it said, with most of the new deaths in central Hubei province and in particular the provincial capital of Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where the outbreak began in December.There are currently nine cases of coronavirus confirmed in the UK. It has emerged that the latest patient, a woman, took an Uber to A&E after she developed symptoms. Two staff from Lewisham Hospital in south London are now in isolation at home after coming into contact with the woman. NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said on Thursday that many more people in the UK may need to self-isolate to contain the illness, which has been officially named Covid-19.Health officials have contacted more than 200 people who attended a conference in central London after it emerged one delegate is suffering from coronavirus. Public Health England (PHE) sent a letter to those who were at the UK Bus Summit at the QEII Centre in Westminster on February 6, including several MPs, two of whom have now decided to stay mostly at home.Dr Yimmy Chow, consultant in health protection at PHE, said: "One of our main priorities has been to identify any people who we think have been in close contact with confirmed cases of Covid-19 to provide public health advice, as they may be at slightly increased risk of catching the virus. "While the degree of contact conference delegates may have had with the case is unlikely to have been significant, we have taken a precautionary approach and informed them of the situation."