France reports Europe’s first coronavirus death

A nurse (L) looks at a 1-year-old boy as his father and mother (R) speak to the media during a ceremony marking their release after recovering from the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Youan Hospital in Beijing on Feb. 14, 2020. (Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP v

An 80-year-old man in France has become the first person in Europe to die from the coronavirus.

The man – a Chinese tourist from the province of Hubei – arrived in France on Jan. 16, then was hospitalized on Jan. 25 under strict isolation measures. His condition deteriorated rapidly, officials said.

"I was informed last night of the death of an 80-year-old patient who had been hospitalized,” Health Minister Agnes Buzyn announced Saturday.

The man’s daughter was also hospitalized, but officials say she is expected to recover.

Europe has 46 cases of the virus that first emerged in central China in December. Nine European nations have reported cases, with Germany having the most at 16.

The virus, now called COVID-19, has infected more than 67,000 people globally and killed at least 1,527, the vast majority in China. The World Health Organization has called the virus a threat to global health.

Chinese authorities have placed some 60 million people under a strict lockdown, built emergency hospitals and instituted controls across the country to fight the spread of the virus. Restaurants, cinemas and other businesses have been closed nationwide, and sports and cultural events have been canceled.

Elsewhere, officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are preparing to evacuate hundreds of Americans quarantined on a cruise ship docked off the coast of Yokohama, Japan, for more than a week.

Approximately 380 Americans and their families on the Diamond Princess will be offered seats on two flights that could arrive at Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif., as early as Sunday, a CDC official told The Wall Street Journal.

Fox News’ Brie Stimson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.