France announces first coronavirus death outside Asia

An 80-year-old Chinese man, who had been treated in a Paris hospital since last month, has been confirmed as the first death in Europe due to the coronavirus.

French lab scientists in hazmat gear test potentially infected patient samples in Paris. Source: AAP

An elderly Chinese tourist in hospital in France has died of the coronavirus, becoming the first fatality in Europe, authorities have confirmed.

France has recorded 11 cases of the virus, out of a global total of almost 67,000. The vast majority of those suffering from the virus are in China.

The Bichat Hospital in northern Paris. Source: AAP

The epidemic has so far killed more than 1,500 people.

French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said on Saturday she was informed on Friday that the 80-year old man, who had been treated at the Bichat Hospital in northern Paris since 25 January, died of a lung infection due to the coronavirus.

Outside mainland China, there have been about 500 cases in some 24 countries and territories.

Until the death in France, there had been three deaths outside China, with one in Japan, one in Hong Kong and one in the Philippines.