A Brazilian who recently traveled to Italy became the first infected by the new coronavirus in Latin America, the Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday, who performed two medical tests necessary to confirm or rule out contagion.
The patient, 61 years old and resident in Sao Paulo, traveled only to Italy from February 9 to 21, to the region of Lombardy (north) where most cases of infection have been registered in the European country.
As the ministry explained in a statement, the patient went to a hospital in Sao Paulo because he had “fever, dry cough, congestion and sore throat.”
The ministry said that the first preliminary examinations were carried out and that “the sample was sent (to another specialized laboratory) to perform a second test” which finally confirmed the diagnosis.
The state government created a contingency committee to monitor and coordinate actions against the spread of the virus. Another 20 cases are under investigation in Brazil, according to the Secretary of Health Surveillance, Wanderson Kleber de Oliveira. Twelve of the suspects traveled to Italy, two to Germany, two to Thailand, one to France and one to China.
The head of the health portfolio, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, said that “the patient is well” and in home isolation until the symptoms disappear, when he can “return to his normal life.” In addition, he informed that they are identifying the people with whom he had contact to perform the relevant tests.
Mandetta commented that Covid-19, identified in China at the end of last year, could have a different behavior in the southern summer than in the countries of the northern hemisphere, in the middle of the winter season, for which it has spread so far.
In a pre-confirmation interview, the health authority called for calm and compared the new coronavirus with a “flu.”
Sao Paulo, with 12.2 million inhabitants, is the most populous city in Brazil and has just completed carnival celebrations with massive daily crowds in the streets. In addition to this, Brazil borders on practically all the countries of South America (except Chile and Ecuador).
As of Wednesday, Brazilian health authorities had investigated 154 suspected cases, but 51 were ruled out and another 102 were classified as “excluded” because they did not fit the World Health Organization (WHO) definition for the coronavirus. Although Latin Americans have been infected or quarantined in other regions, there were no confirmed cases in Latin America.
From AFP
