Colombia evaluates Chinese passenger
Colombian authorities are investigating whether a Chinese citizen who arrived by plane to Bogotá on Wednesday is the first case in the country of the coronavirus that has caused 17 deaths in China in less than a month, the Ministry of Health reported.
The case us a man of Chinese nationality who arrived in Colombia on January 22 from that country. The corresponding analyses and samples are being carried out and until now the presence of the virus is not suggested,” the statement said.
The Chinese citizen left his country and in Istanbul caught a plane that landed at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá at 9.00 local time (14.00 GMT) with about 300 passengers of which 124 stayed in Colombia.
authorities are urging other people who were on the flight to get medical check-ups.
The Ministry of Health added that this is the second case of travelers who have passed through China who are checked coronavirus “applying international” protocols.
“The first, on January 19, to a man who was on an Asian cruise and reported symptoms of ARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Infection). After the respective analyzes, the presence of the new coronavirus from China was ruled out,”
Both the Ministry and the National Institute of Health (INS) “are attentive to the recommendations derived from the WHO Emergency Committee (World Health Organization) that is currently in session in Geneva, Switzerland, to update the risk assessment and corresponding action plans, “
The Government also recommended that travelers destined for Asia go to health services if they feel sick during and after the trip and report on the areas they have visited.
The authorities of the Chinese province of Hubei, in whose capital, Wuhan, originated the new pneumonia coronavirus, raised on Wednesday to 17 the number of deaths from the disease that, according to the National Health Commission, could mutate and spread. The virus is already present in at least 13 Chinese provinces, as well as in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, which confirmed their first cases on Wednesday. Cases have also been detected in Japan, Thailand, South Korea Saidi Arabia and the United States, and a possible case in Mexico.
