Madagascar announced the first death of a patient suffering from novel coronavirus, a 57-year-old hospital worker, nearly two months after the virus was first detected in the Indian Ocean island nation, AFP reported.

The man who was a car park attendant at a hospital in the eastern city of Toamasina died on Saturday, professor Hanta Vololontiana, an official from the anti-coronavirus task team said.

He had underlying diabetes and high blood pressure before he was infected.