Russia reports 1st COVID-19 death

A subway worker cleans the handrails as a part of the disinfection procedure in Moscow, Russia, on March 16, 2020.(Photo by Evgeny Sinitsyn/Xinhua)

A 79-year-old woman with several existing diseases infected with COVID-19 died in a Moscow hospital, the Moscow coronavirus crisis control headquarters said Thursday.

"The elderly patient had a number of chronic diseases, including Type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis and high blood pressure," Svetlana Krasnova, chief physician of the Moscow Infectious Diseases Hospital No. 2 where the woman got treated, said in the statement.

The deceased was hospitalized on March 13 and spent two days in a private clinic. After testing positive for COVID-19, she was put in an isolated box and transferred to the hospital specialising in infectious diseases.

Her circle of close acquaintance has been traced and put under medical observance, but none showed severe symptoms of the disease, the statement said.

As of Thursday morning, 147 cases of COVID-19 have been registered in Russia.