The 60-year-old man fell to the ground after suffering a cardiac arrest outside a restaurant in the city’s Chinatown. Restaurant managers said they were alerted to the incident on Tuesday night by passersby. The tragedy comes as Australia’s government defended its plan to quarantine up to 600 evacuated citizens on Christmas Island.
Nine cases of coronavirus have been confirmed Down Under while many more are being investigated.
And the number of those infected with the mysterious virus globally has reached more than 7,800.
Hundreds of Australian citizens are among those on lockdown in Wuhan, the epicentre of the mysterious virus.
A week after the lockdown was implemented, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday declared a global health emergency.
Canberra is in discussions with the Chinese government on how to evacuate its citizens.
The Christmas Island plan drew criticism because of the history surrounding the island’s detention centre.
The Australian territory lies about 1,616 miles (2,600 km) off the mainland.
The site was closed in 2018 but re-opened the following year.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: International emergency declared by WHO
“I can’t clear out a hospital in Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane.
“I don’t have a facility otherwise that we can quickly accommodate for what might be many hundreds of people, and Christmas Island is purpose-built for exactly this scenario.”
British citizens in Wuhan are expected to be evacuated on Friday morning.
Some 200 people will undergo medical screening before boarding a flight.
They will be kept at a quarantine site in The Wirral for two weeks as a precaution.
The United States has already evacuated its 210 citizens.
Japan transported nationals out of Wuhan on two flights.
Meanwhile France and the European Union have said they will jointly send two planes to the infection-hit city.
But the timing of the flights has not been confirmed.