• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Latin America

Brazil: First Possible Case Of COVID-19, More Tests Needed

  • Definitive results should be known by Wednesday, when a series of additional preventive measures would be taken, depending on the doctors' findings

    Definitive results should be known by Wednesday, when a series of additional preventive measures would be taken, depending on the doctors' findings | Photo: Xinhua

Published 25 February 2020
Opinion

The patient, according to official sources, is a 61-year-old Brazilian man who recently returned from Lombardy, northern Italy.

Brazilian health authorities reported on Tuesday the possible detection of what could be the first case of coronavirus in the country. However, they clarified that a new test has yet to happen for definitive confirmation.

RELATED:

1st Vaccine Batch Against Coronavirus Shipped to Clinical Study

The patient, according to official sources, is a 61-year-old Brazilian man recently returned
from Lombardy, northern Italy, where to date, 11 deaths have occurred, and nearly 320 people became infected with the virus.

The first test on this individual took place at the Albert Einstein Hospital, located in the southern part of the city of Sao Paulo, where he is currently receiving treatment.

These results, still considered "preliminary", have been sent to the Adolfo Lutz Institute, a national reference institute, for further analysis, before the case is officially confirmed as the first coronavirus case in Brazil.

Health ministry officials said they hoped the results of the re-test would be known by Wednesday, when a series of additional preventive measures would be taken, depending on the doctors' findings.

According to sources at the Albert Einstein Hospital, one of the country's most prestigious medical institutes, the patient has presented some characteristic symptoms of the coronavirus, such as fever, cough, sore throat, and itchy skin. Still, he is not at risk at the moment.

So far, Brazilian health authorities have investigated 154 suspected cases, but 51 were ruled out, and another 102 were classified as "excluded" because they do not fit the World Health Organization (WHO) definition for coronavirus.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.