The Southeast Asian country of Laos recorded its first death from coronavirus on Sunday, losing its place among the few countries yet to suffer a fatality, state media said.
The victim was a 53-year-old Vietnamese woman who had underlying medical problems, including diabetes, and who worked at a karaoke club in a village outside the capital Vientiane, the state-run Vientiane Times website quoted the national COVID-19 taskforce as saying, reports Reuters.
Infections have rocketed in the country of seven million since last month, when the worst surges also began in neighbouring Thailand and Cambodia.
Laos has identified only 1,302 infections so far since the pandemic began.
Laos Red Cross volunteers raise awareness in a market in Vientiane of Laos on the symptoms of COVID-19 and the means to protect oneself from it on April 30 last year -Reuters file photo