VIENNA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A 69-year-old became the first person to die of coronavirus in Austria on Thursday.
The man, who had returned from Italy with pre-existing conditions, died last night in the Kaiser-Franz-Josef Hospital in the capital, according to the medical crisis team of the City of Vienna.
In order to curb the spread of the coronavirus, there will be restrictions in Vienna's hospitals. Visits by the public to the sick are prohibited until further notice, said City Councilor Peter Hacker.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Austria rose to 361 as of Thursday morning, with four people recovered from the illness, according to health authorities.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz urged the population not to "trivialize the situation" at a press conference here on Wednesday.
He pointed out that although situation in Austria is different from that in Italy, the development of cases and the daily increase in the number of infected people showed a similar trend across Europe.
"It makes sense and is right to reduce social contact in the private sphere in order to protect the public and especially older relatives and people with previous illnesses," emphasised the chancellor.
Schools across Austria will be partially closed as of next Monday to contain the coronavirus, announced the federal government on Wednesday.
Initially, only high school students would be affected by the closures. Later the government decided that school for all other pupils up to 14 years of age would also be discontinued from next Wednesday.
