Denmark on Saturday recorded its first coronavirus death, health authorities said.

"It was a person aged 81 years who was hospitalised for other serious illnesses," said officials at the hospital where the patient was treated.

The death is the fifth COVID-19 fatality in the Nordic countries. Two people have already died in Sweden and two in Norway. Schools, universities and libraries have been closed in Denmark and civil servants have been asked to stay at home.

The government on Wednesday unveiled a string of measures to limit the impact of the pandemic, which has now seen more than 150,000 worldwide infected with COVID-19 and caused over 5,000 deaths.