Indonesia confirms first death from coronavirus

By Erric Permana, Umar Idris

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AA) - Indonesia confirmed its first death from the novel coronavirus on Wednesday.

A 53-year-old woman who was a foreign citizen died from the virus in the Southeast Asian country, said a Health Ministry official.

Achmad Yurianto, a government spokesman for coronavirus, said the victim was suffering from chronic diseases of diabetes, hypertension, hyperthyroidism, and lung disease.

"The patient died at around 2 a.m. local time [1900GMT Tuesday]," he said at a press conference in the capital Jakarta.

Yurianto did not disclose the nationality of the woman, who tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

Indonesia confirmed 27 coronavirus cases so far.

The novel coronavirus, officially known also COVID-19, was first detected last December in Wuhan, China.

The global death toll from the virus is almost 4,300, with more than 118,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization.

The virus has spread to six continents and more than 100 countries.

*Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo