An Egyptian man died in Italy on Sunday of coronavirus, and his family have been quarantined after testing positive for the disease.

The 51-year old Egyptian lived in Rho town in the city of Milan, and contracted the virus from his employer who also passed away, Mohamed El-Abd, the head of the Egyptian-Italian Association, told Ahram Online.

“The man’s wife and children also tested positive for the virus and have been quarantined,” El-Abd said.

“He was negligent about his infection and tried to treat it as if it were a common cold”, El-Abd said adding that, “he went to the hospital  after his condition deteriorated and died two days later.”

El-Abd said the man was quietly buried on Sunday in the presence of no more than 10 people since gatherings are prohibited.

The number of Egyptians in Italy who have tested positive for the virus has increased, according to El-Abd.

“The infected people don’t want the association to announce the numbers as they don’t want to worry their families,” El-Abd said, “but there are more than 10 cases."

“Some of the cases are in a good condition but some aren’t . We contact the Egyptian consulate for coordination at least four times a day and we help the patients and their families."

Ahmed El-Far, 58, was the first Egyptian to die of the epidemic in Italy. He passed away on 17 March.

Italy is the world's hardest-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the European country has registered more than 59,000 cases and over 5,000 deaths, more than those recorded in China, the epicentre of the outbreak.