Spain confirms first case of fast-spreading coronavirus gripping China

The Spanish Ministry of Health has confirmed the country’s first case of a lethal coronavirus that has swept all of China’s 31 provinces and at least 25 other nations.

The first case in the country was confirmed by Spain’s National Center for Microbiology and announced by the Health Ministry late on Friday, with one man diagnosed on La Gomera, a remote island in the Canaries. The patient was among five people brought to the island for observation after coming into contact with a German man diagnosed with the virus.

The confirmation comes as officials in China’s Hubei Province – the epicenter of the outbreak – reported 45 new deaths from the illness, bringing the total to 249, with some 10,000 infected and over 1,500 in critical condition in China.