Medical workers in protective suits lift an isolated patient from an ambulance as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China February 2, 2020. Picture taken February 2, 2020. cnsphoto via REUTERS ATTENTIO
A 60-year-old U.S. citizen died in Wuhan, China on Thursday, the U.S. embassy in Beijing said.
"We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” the embassy said in an emailed statement. "Out of the respect for the family’s privacy, we have no further comment.”
The person who succumbed to the coronavirus was a woman with underlying health conditions, the New York Times reported, citing two unidentified people familiar with the matter. She is believed to be the first American to have died from the virus.
The death toll from the outbreak is inching closer to the total from SARS and may surpass the threshold this weekend if the disease continues to kill people at its current pace. The total number of victims may be far higher, given reports of an overwhelmed health system in Hubei, central China.
On Friday, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the U.S. is prepared to spend as much as $100 million to help China and other nations fight the spread of the coronavirus.
The U.S. this week helped ship to China 17.8 tons of donated supplies, such as masks, gowns, gauze, respirators and other materials this week, he said in a statement.
