Sri Lanka confirms first case of coronavirus

Sri Lankan Health officials on Monday confirmed the first case of coronavirus, involving a 43-year-old Chinese woman, local media reported.

The woman, who hails from the Chinese Province of Hubei, had arrived in Sri Lanka as a tourist on January 19, Sudath Samaraweera, the Chief Epidemiologist with the Ministry of Health, said.

"The first test on the patient was positive for the virus. We have sent a second sample to the Medical Research Institute at Borella for further examination. In the meantime, we will continue to treat her as a patient positive for new coronavirus at the IDH," Samaraweera told the Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).

The woman was admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) in Angoda town on December 25 after she developed symptoms of fever.

The virus, which was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has killed more than 80 people in that country alone, while more than a dozen other countries have reported cases so far.