A US citizen has died of coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the first American to be killed by the deadly outbreak.
The patient was reportedly a 60-year-old woman and had underlying health conditions, two people familiar with the matter told New York Times.
It's understood she died on Thursday, February 6 but her death was confirmed by authorities today.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Beijing said: "We can confirm a 60-year-old US citizen diagnosed with coronavirus died at a hospital in Wuhan, China, on February 6.
"We offer our sincerest condolences o the family on their loss.
"Out of respect for the family's privacy, we have no further comment."
It comes as the global death toll for coronavirus has hit 723, with more than 34,000 people infected in China.
And a Japanese man hospitalized with pneumonia in Wuhan has also die, and although it is suspected he had the disease it has not yet been confirmed.
The man is potentially the first Japanese person 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 epidemic.
His death came as the number of passengers infected with the virus from a cruise liner quarantined in Japanese port
of Yokohama jumped to 64 on Saturday.
The virus has spread around the world, with 320 cases now in 27 countries and regions outside mainland China, a Reuters tally
of official statements showed.
