78-year-old man becomes first Australian to die from coronavirus

A 78-year-old passenger of the Diamond Princess cruise ship has become the first Australian casualty of the Coronavirus after he died in a Perth hospital early this morning.

The man, who has not been named, had been isolated in the intensive care unit at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 while quarantined at Howard Springs, near Darwin, last month.

West Australian chief health officer Andrew Robertson confirmed the death during a press conference earlier today.

The man's 79-year-old wife, has also tested positive for the virus and is isolated at a Perth hospital,She remains in a stable condition.

The couple were among 3,711 passengers quarantined on board the Diamond Princess at Yokohama after an outbreak on the ship was detected in early February.

More than 600 passengers have so far tested positive for the virus, including nine Australians.

Globally, there have been more than 84,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, which originated in China's central Hubei province, as infection rates soar in Italy, South Korea and Iran. 

[Source:SBS.com.au]