Geographic area affected by the outbreak becomes a screening criterion in Europe

Portugal and other European countries will begin to screen cases of infection with the new coronavirus, using the new geographical area affected by the Covid-19 outbreak as a new criterion, the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) announced this Monday.

The new criterion was established by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, adding to the symptoms or the path and personal contacts of the patient or suspect, said the director-general of Health, Graça Freitas, in a press conference, recalling that there are outbreaks infections outside China, where the epidemic began, such as Italy, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Iran.

“Any outbreak of infection outside China is a cause for concern,” said Thanks Freitas, in a statement to journalists about the Covid-19 infection.

The Director-General of Health said to “follow the thinking” of the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), who today warned of the possibility of a pandemic, but stressed that the measures are considered according to the risks, which in the event of an epidemic, they are changeable.

“We adjusted the proportionality of the measures to the risk”, he stressed.

The Covid-19 outbreak, which began in China, has already infected more than 79,000 people worldwide, according to figures from health officials in the roughly 30 affected countries.

The death toll from the new coronavirus has risen to 2,592 in mainland China, which accounted for more than 75,000 people infected, almost all in Hubei province, the epicenter of the epidemic.

In addition to the fatalities in mainland China, there have also been deaths in Iran, Japan, the Chinese region of Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines, the United States and Taiwan. In Europe, the countries most affected are Italy and France.

In Portugal, there have already been 14 suspected cases, which were negative after analysis.

There is an infected Portuguese working on a cruise ship that is quarantined in the port of Yokohama, Japan, and that will be transferred this morning (time in Lisbon) to a Japanese reference hospital.

The WHO declared the outbreak of Covid-19, a family of viruses that can cause respiratory infections such as pneumonia, as an international public health emergency due to the risk of spreading globally.

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