SINGAPORE, March 11. /TASS/. A 53-year-old UK citizen has died from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bali, the CNA TV channel informs, citing UK Embassy officials. This is the first recorded death from the virus in Indonesia.
A spokesperson from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has confirmed that the patient was a British citizen, adding that she was in Bali. "Our sympathies and thoughts are with her family at this difficult time," the spokesperson said.
Ahmad Yurianto, Indonesia’s government spokesman for COVID-19, informed that the patient was suffering from diabetes, hypertension, hyperthyroidism and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He added that the woman was already critically ill when she was admitted to the hospital. The patient’s husband has also been hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms.
As of Wednesday, Indonesia has documented 27 coronavirus cases. The first cases of the virus were confirmed by the Indonesian government on March 2. Meanwhile, the neighboring state of Singapore has documented several cases of infection among Indonesian citizens arriving in the country. Last month, at least five people with coronavirus symptoms died in the country. Jakarta first stated that they had tested negative for COVID-19, however, they admitted that the lab tests might have been unreliable.
In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. According to Chinese authorities, about 80,700 people have been infected with the virus in the country. The death toll has exceeded 3,100, while about 59,900 patients have recovered. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global health emergency and named the virus COVID-19. Cases of coronavirus have been reported in over 100 countries, including Russia. The largest outbreaks of COVID-19 outside of China have been detected in South Korea, Iran and Italy. According to WHO, the total amount of people infected has surpassed 110,000 globally, while over 4,000 people have died.