BERLIN 

A third person died of coronavirus in Germany, authorities announced on Wednesday.

A 73-year-old man with underlying health issues died on Tuesday night at a hospital in the worst-hit district of Heinsberg in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

He was a dialysis patient, and infection from the coronavirus had seriously impaired his health condition, local authorities said in a statement.

Germany’s first two deaths from coronavirus also took place in the country’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Earlier on Wednesday, Germany’s disease control agency the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country had risen to 1,296.

A total of 484 of these cases were recorded in North Rhine-Westphalia, followed by 314 cases in the southeastern state of Bavaria.

Both states have decided to cancel major events with more than 1,000 participants to stem the virus' spread.

Coronavirus, officially known also COVID-19, was first detected last December in Wuhan, China.

The global death toll is now almost 4,300, with around 118,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).