Coronavirus: confirm the first case in Colombia

03/06/2020 - 17:42

• Clarín.com
• international

The Colombian government confirmed the first case of coronavirus in a 19-year-old woman who arrived in the country from Milan (Italy) and was tested for the symptoms it presented.

The information was confirmed by the Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Health that did not give details of the person infected.

In a statement, the Ministry said the country "has been preparing for more than eight weeks to face the arrival of the new COVID-19 coronavirus " and said that the reported case activates health contingency plans throughout the country.

# ATTENTION First case of coronavirus COVID-19 confirmed in Colombia pic.twitter.com/dVDDDft51l

The young woman studies in Italy, the main focus of the disease in Europe, and returned to the Colombian capital on February 26 , wrote the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López , in her Twitter account.

The student was treated on March 2 at a clinic in the north of the city. "We will follow protocol and agreed treatment. Tranquility, zero panic ," Lopez added.

The Ministry of Health said, meanwhile, that it activated "the containment phase " throughout Colombia, where immigration controls have been redoubled to try to keep the virus at bay .

The COVID-19, detected in the Chinese province of Wuhan, leaves more than 100,000 infected and at least 3,456 dead in 93 countries and territories, according to an AFP assessment carried out on Friday based on official sources.

In Latin America, the disease has occurred in Brazil , Argentina , Mexico , Peru , Dominican Republic , Chile and Ecuador . So far no fatalities are reported in the region.

ANSA / AFP