Coronavirus: Five people confirmed to be infected, says France’s Health Minister

The latest patient is the daughter of a Chinese tourist, who was the fourth confirmed victim in the country.

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 said at a news briefing.

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

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

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