Head of hospital dies in coronavirus epicentre; global economic impact spreads

A woman wearing a protective mask cycles past graffiti-painted wall at a construction site in Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by coronavirus outbreak, February 17, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The head of a leading hospital in China's central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, died of the disease on Tuesday as Apple Inc warned its sales would suffer because of the epidemic, casting a chill on global stock markets.

Chinese state television said Liu Zhiming, the director of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, died at 10:30 a.m, the seventh health worker to fall victim. The hospital was designated to solely treat virus-infected patients.