Rome, February 22: Italy on Saturday announced the first death of a person infected with coronavirus, now named as COVID-19. According to ANSA news agency, the local news agency of Italy, the victim was a patient in the northern city of Padua in Italy. The person became the first Italian victim of the disease, reports said. Outside China, countries including Iran, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, South Korea and France have all reported deaths due to the deadly virus. Six people have tested positive for the virus in the town of Codogno which has a population of 15,000. In the wake of the rising scare, bars, schools and offices in a small northern Italian town are shutting down as a precautionary measure.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1,150 people have been infected and 8 have died across 26 other countries apart from China. Till Friday, the overall death toll in mainland China increased to 2,236, while the number of confirmed cases reached 75,465. However, the top health officials there informed that the novel coronavirus outbreak is under control and the general situation is improving. Coronavirus Outbreak: Here’s How 2019-nCoV Spreads in Humans.

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The coronavirus infection that started in China's Wuhan city has now spread to 30 different states of China and several nations. Reports inform that robots were being deployed in the country's front lines in an effort to combat the disease. In Iran, the death of two more people due to the deadly coronavirus has taken up the death toll in the country to four. Reports inform that so far, 18 Iranians have been infected by the virus, out of which four have died.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 22, 2020 08:52 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).