The deceased was a 50-year-old man who had gone to Wuhan, where first coronavirus cases were reported, on January 8. On January 15, upon the man's return to Beijing, his temperature rose. He went to the hospital on January 21 and the next day, the diagnosis was confirmed.
The man's condition worsened on Monday and, despite the doctor's efforts, he passed away. As of 8 p.m. local time (12:00 GMT) 80 cases of infection were registered in the Chinese capital.
The unknown type of viral pneumonia was first reported in Wuhan in early January and has since been confirmed by China and the World Health Organisation to be a new strain of the coronavirus, currently labeled as 2019-nCoV or Novel Coronavirus. The symptoms of the new coronavirus are typical of common cold or flu: fever, coughing, sneezing, difficulty breathing.