Agencies

A 60-year old U.S. citizen diagnosed with coronavirus died at Jinyintan Hospital in China's Wuhan on Feb. 6, a U.S. embassy spokesman in Beijing said on Saturday, in what appeared to be the first death of an American from the outbreak.

"We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss," the spokesman told Reuters. "Out of respect for the family's privacy, we have no further comment."

As of noon Thursday, there had been 19 cases of foreigners infected with the coronavirus, of which two had been discharged from hospital and 17 were being quarantined and treated, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman at the Chinese foreign ministry, told reporters at a regular briefing last Thursday.