Taiwan reported its first death from the new coronavirus Sunday.
A 61-year-old man from central Taiwan with underlying health problems but no recent overseas travel history died in hospital on Saturday after testing positive for the virus, officials confirmed.
It is the fifth recorded death outside mainland China — previous victims were in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, and France.
“This latest case was an unlicensed taxi driver. His main clients were people who had been to China, Hong Kong and Macao,” health and welfare minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters.
Chen said authorities were examining the driver’s client list and their travel history, in an attempt to trace the possible source of infection.
A 50-year-old male relative of the victim was later confirmed to have contracted the virus, Chen added, although he was not showing any symptoms.