A US infant has died from the novel coronavirus, reports international media.

Officials in the state of Illinois announced on Saturday that the child who died in Chicago was younger than one year, marking an extremely rare case of juvenile death in the global pandemic, says a Paris-based news agency.

The state said the child who died in Chicago was younger than one year old and had tested positive for Covid-19.

"There has never before been a death associated with Covid-19 in an infant," Illinois State Department of Public Health’s Director Ngozi Ezike said in a statement. "A full investigation is underway to determine the cause of death."

Pritzker described himself as shaken by the news.

"I know how difficult this news can be, especially about this very young child," he said.

"It's especially sorrowful for the family of this very small child, for the years stolen from this infant. We should grieve."