On Thursday, a 66-year-old man became the first person to die of the coronavirus in Kenya, the country’s Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said in a statement.

According to the statement, the deceased had arrived in the country from South Africa via Swaziland on March 13.

"We have received the sad news of the first patient who had tested positive for coronavirus. The Kenyan citizen who passed on this afternoon had been admitted at the Aga Khan Hospital Intensive Care Unit,” the statement reads in part.

The deceased had been suffering from diabetes, the Kenyan authorities said.

Kenya becomes the second country in East Africa after Sudan to confirm a coronavirus-related death.

Currently, 31 people in Kenya have tested positive for the widespread virus.

In Africa, 43 countries have confirmed 2,412 positive cases. Fifteen countries have confirmed coronavirus deaths by Thursday.

Globally, the pandemic has declared over 16000 lives and infected more than 380,000 people according to John Hopkins University.