Japanese with suspected coronavirus infection dies in China

A Japanese man with a suspected coronavirus infection has died in hospital in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the Japanese foreign ministry said Saturday.

The man in his 60s had been hospitalised due to severe pneumonia and the hospital reported his death to the Japanese embassy in China, the ministry said in a statement.

Chinese medical authorities said the man was highly likely to have been infected with the new coronavirus but "it is difficult to make a definitive judgement," the statement said.

His cause of death was given as viral pneumonia, it added.

The man would be the first Japanese victim of the outbreak if his infection is confirmed.