A 36-year-old man in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has become the latest—and youngest—victim of the new coronavirus outbreak, local health authorities announced Friday.
The patient was not reported to have any prior medical conditions. In many of the other 26 virus deaths, health officials reported pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and pulmonary infection. According to official data, most of the victims were between the ages of 65 and 80. The oldest were two 88-year-old men. Previously, a 48-year-old woman with diabetes was the youngest reported fatality.
The 36-year-old was admitted to a hospital on Jan. 9 after experience a high fever for three days, according to the health commission of Hubei province, where Wuhan is located. A radiograph showed he had a lung infection and a high white blood cell count. He succumbed to the deadly virus on Jan. 23 after a drop in heart rate and a cardiac arrest.
The coronavirus, which originates from a seafood market in Wuhan, was first identified in mid-December. It has swept through China and beyond the mainland just as the region prepares to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Many public celebrations and temple fairs have been canceled in a bid to contain the illness. China also put at least 13 cities on lockdown as of Friday.
The virus — a “novel coronavirus” dubbed 2019-nCoV, belongs to the same family as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
China has confirmed 830 cases as of Friday, mostly in and around Hubei province. But the virus has also spread overseas, including to South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States. Singapore reported two more new cases on Friday afternoon, bringing the number of patients who had been infected there to three.
After a two-day meeting, the World Health Organization said Thursday that the outbreak is an emergency in mainland China but is not yet of international concern.
