The first case of suspected infection with the new coronavirus (Covid-19) in the Azores had a negative result, revealed the Regional Government today.
“The Regional Health Authority reports that the suspected case of infection by the new Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the Azores, a 31-year-old male, resident in Praia da Vitória, who returned on February 19, Milan, Italy, had a negative result after carrying out laboratory tests ”, reads a statement from the Azorean Executive’s Office for Social Communication.
The Regional Government had revealed on Thursday night the existence of a suspicious case on the island of Terceira.
The Regional Health Authority calls for “all recommendations already made public in this regard to be complied with”, stressing that in case of symptoms, users should call the Azores Health Line (808 24 60 24), instead of going to a hospital or health facility.
The regional secretary for Health of the Azores revealed on Wednesday that the three hospitals in the region – on the islands of Faial, Terceira and São Miguel – had 80 isolation rooms available to accommodate potential carriers of the virus.
According to the Regional Director of Health, Tiago Lopes, “primarily the patients will be transported to Hospital Santo Espírito on Terceira Island, because it is the hospital that has the laboratory capacity to confirm the diagnosis and the rooms with negative pressure to proceed with the procedure. hospitalization and treatment of the suspected case ”.
To date, Portugal has had 59 suspected cases of infection with the new coronavirus (Covid-19), 57 of which have been negative and the remaining two are awaiting laboratory results, the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) said today.
The data appear in the daily epidemiological bulletin of Covid-19, according to which Portugal did not register, at 18:00, any cases of infection.
In the past 24 hours, seven new suspected cases have been reported, down 20 from the number of new suspected cases released on Thursday.
The bulletin only mentions the cases registered in the country. There are two known cases of Portuguese people infected with the new coronavirus who are hospitalized in Japan.
DGS maintains moderate to high the risk to public health in Portugal and reiterates that, “taking into account the global epidemiological situation, it is necessary to consider the possibility of importing cases of illness from citizens from China or from other areas with community transmission active ”, namely from Italy, Iran, Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
The Covid-19 epidemic, which originated in China in December 2019, has already infected 83,694 people in 53 countries on five continents, of which 2,861 died, according to information released at 4 pm today by the World Health Organization (WHO).
China remains the most affected country, with 2,791 dead and 78,959 infected, according to the same information.
In Europe, Italy is the country hardest hit by the outbreak, with 17 killed and 605 infected.
The WHO has today raised the level of threat caused by the new coronavirus, a family of viruses that can cause respiratory infections such as pneumonia, to a very high level.
The Covid-19 epidemic was declared by WHO as an international public health emergency.
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