Five people in France confirmed to have coronavirus

This picture taken on January 29, 2020, shows a general view of the Bichat Hospital in Paris where some of the patients infected with the coronavirus are being treated. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)

PARIS, France (AFP) — The daughter of a Chinese tourist who is seriously ill in a Paris hospital has become the fifth person in France to be confirmed with the coronavirus, officials said Wednesday.

Her 80-year-old father was the fourth confirmed case in France of the new coronavirus that has killed more than 100 people since it emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

“A fifth case has been detected,” Health Minister Agnes Buzyn told a news briefing.

“It’s the daughter of the Chinese tourist who was hospitalized recently in intensive care in a serious condition,” Buzyn added.

The woman in her thirties, “whose condition has worsened, who needs oxygen,” has also been placed in intensive care, Buzyn said.

The minister said a first plane was due to fly Wednesday evening to Wuhan, the epicenter in China, to repatriate 200 French people stranded there.

 

© Agence France-Presse