A man in the Philippines has become the first person to die of the Wuhan coronavirus outside of China

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A man in the Philippines has become the first person to die of the Wuhan coronavirus outside of China
A doctor attends to a patient in an isolation ward at a hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. China counted 170 deaths from a new virus Thursday and more countries reported infections, including some spread locally, as foreign evacuees from China's worst-hit region returned home to medical observation and even isolation. (Chinatopix via AP)
  • A man in the Philippines has become the first person to die of the Wuhan coronavirus outside of China.
  • The victim, a 44-year-old man, died on Saturday in Manila. He had travelled to the Philippines from Wuhan.
  • He experienced a "fever, cough & sore throat" before being admitted to hospital, according to the World Health Organization.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A man in the Philippines has died of the Wuhan coronavirus, the first confirmed fatality outside of China.

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The victim was a 44-year-old man, according to the World Health Organization's Philippines branch, who posted the news on Twitter Sunday morning.

"A 44-year-old male is confirmed as the second person with the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV) in the Philippines. He passed away on 1 February 2020," the WHO said.

"The 44-year-old male experienced fever, cough & sore throat before being admitted at San Lazaro Hospital," the WHO Philippines said in a second tweet.

The man, and a 38-year-old Chinese woman travelling with him, were the only two confirmed cases in the country, the Philippines Department of Health said in a press conference on Sunday.

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They arrived together from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, via Hong Kong.

"This is the first reported death outside China. However, we need to take into mind that this is not a locally acquired case. This patient came from the epicenter of this outbreak," Rabindra undefined, WHO representative to the Philippines, said at the press conference.

Wuhan China January 26 coronavirus medics help man

On Sunday, the country's president, Rodrigo Duterte, banned anyone coming to the country from China who wasn't Filipino.

The total death toll now stands at more than 300, with 14,380 infections across 24 countries.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) issued new regulations Saturday stating that all victims who succumb to the virus in China must be cremated at the nearest facility.

"No farewell ceremonies or other funeral activities involving the corpse shall be held," the NHC announcement reads.

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