Turkish man dies of coronavirus in France

A 64-year-old man living in France is the first Turkish national to lose his life due to the coronavirus infection. The man's three sons and wife have been put into quarantine by the French authorities.

Duvar English

A 64-year-old Turkish man living in France died from the novel coronavirus, Turkish media outlets reported on March 6. This marks the first Turkish national who died of the virus.

The man, known by the initials H.B., was reportedly born in Turkey's southern province of Mersin.

He was being treated at the hospital for respiratory failure since last week on Feb. 29. He also suffered from high cholesterol and had diabetes.

French authorities did not allow transportation of his body to Turkey.

The man's three sons and wife have been put into quarantine by the French authorities.

The death toll from coronavirus in France has reached nine, according to the health department. There are so far a total of 577 people diagnosed with the virus in the country.

Turkey has not reported any cases of coronavirus so far, although caution is advised due to their close proximity to countries reporting high cases of the virus.

First detected in China's Wuhan city last December, the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has infected 85 countries worldwide.

Theglobal death toll is nearing 3,300, with more than 95,000 confirmedcases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

TheWHO, which had declared the outbreak an international healthemergency, recently updated the global risk level to “very high.”