Sri Lanka confirms 1st case of new virus, a Chinese tourist

Sri Lankan health authorities on Monday said the country has its first confirmed case of of a person infected with the new virus from China.

The patient is a Chinese woman in her 40s who arrived in Sri Lanka last week as a tourist from China's Hubei province, said Dr Sudath Samaraweera, chief epidemiologist of the country's health ministry.

The woman was suffering from a fever when she was admitted on Saturday to the island nation's Infectious Disease Hospital, a state-run facility that treats people suffering from potentially deadly infectious diseases.

Sri Lanka became a major travel destination for Chinese tourists in recent years. Many Chinese nationals also work on Chinese-funded infrastructure projects — including a sea port, port city and highways.

Thousands of people have been sickened in China by the new virus and scores of people have died.