Taiwan's health ministry confirms first coronavirus death on island, cases at 20

A man has died from the coronavirus in Taiwan, marking the first such death on the island since the epidemic spread from mainland China, the island's health minister said on Sunday.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said during a news conference on Sunday that the deceased person was a man in his sixties, who had not traveled abroad recently and had diabetes and hepatitis B.

His was the first fatality in Taiwan, which has to date accumulated 20 confirmed cases.