Peru reported its first death from coronavirus Thursday -- a 78-year-old man with pre-existing conditions who picked up the virus through community spread, the health ministry said. The man, who had high blood pressure, was taken to hospital on Tuesday suffering from "severe respiratory failure," the health ministry said in a statement. He picked up the virus through "community transmission, that is to say he contracted it from someone who became ill inside the country" and not from abroad, Health Minister Elizabeth Hinostroza told radio RPP. Hinostroza said the man would be cremated, in accordance with international health guidelines on infectious pandemics. Peru, which has 234 reported cases of coronavirus, has called a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew to try to prevent its spread. ljc/piz/bc/bfm