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First coronavirus case confirmed in Germany: Bavarian health ministry

The ministry gave no further details on how the patient came to be infected but said he was in a "medically good state".

Coronavirus

A medical worker attends to a patient in the intensive care unit at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. AP

AFP | PTI Berlin

Health authorities in Germany's southern Bavarian region have confirmed the country's first case of the deadly coronavirus spreading in China.

The virus, which can cause a pneumonia-like acute respiratory infection, has in a matter of weeks killed more than 80 people and infected some 2,740 in China, while cases have been identified in more than a dozen other countries.

"A man in the Starnberg region has been infected with the new coronavirus," a spokesperson for the ministry said, adding that the patient was under surveillance in an isolation ward.

The ministry gave no further details on how the patient came to be infected but said he was in a "medically good state".
 

 


France was the first European country to be affected by the outbreak, which has reported three known cases of the virus.

All three had recently travelled to China and have been placed in isolation.

Germany has recommended its citizens avoid "unnecessary" trips to China as the virus spreads.

The country is also considering the possible evacuation of its nationals from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus.

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First Published: Jan 28 2020 | 6:55 AM IST

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