Sri Lanka confirms first case of coronavirus -health official

Sri Lanka has confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country, a senior Sri Lankan health official said on Monday.

"A Chinese lady, who is in her 40s, arrived on the 19th as a tourist and fell ill on the 25th and was confirmed as having the coronavirus following a test on Monday," Sudath Samaraweera, the chief epidemiologist with Sri Lanka's Ministry of Health, told Reuters, adding that this marks the first confirmed case in the island nation.

The new flu-like virus, first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has killed more than 80 people and infected more than 2,700 others. Although most cases identified remain in China, more than a dozen other countries have so far reported cases.