A 60-year-old man has become the first French victim of the coronavirus in the country, the health ministry announced Wednesday.

A woman wearing a protective facemask is evacuated from the security zone where a bus comming from Milan is blocked at the train and bus station Lyon Perrache, due to suspected COVID-19 the novel coronavirus on board, in Lyon, on February 24, 2020. (Photo: AFP)

The man died overnight after being rushed to a Paris hospital in serious condition on Tuesday evening, bringing the total death toll in the country to two, said the ministry's deputy head Jerome Salomon.

The first victim was an 80-year-old Chinese tourist, who died in mid-February.