The Dominican medical authorities have monitored at least 27 people who arrived after stays in China or other countries where there are cases of the coronavirus COVID-19, according to a report in Listín Diario. This includes 15 Chinese citizens. Public Health Minister Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas said that travelers are in their homes and are being monitored by Ministry of Public Health personnel as established by international health protocol in these cases.
The official was interviewed at a time when the World Health Organization (WHO) is asking the world to prepare for a pandemic of the acute respiratory infection.
So far, at least 35 countries are reporting cases of this new strain of coronavirus, first detected last December in Wuhan, China, where it has caused the death of more than 2,700 people.
In an update, Farah Peña, director of the Epidemiology Department (Digepi) at the Ministry of Public Health said there are no suspect cases of coronavirus in the country at this time.
In the Dominican Republic, a special isolation unit to treat cases has been set up at the Ramón de Lara Military Hospital, where the first suspected cases were kept. The people who had traveled to China were discharged when coming clear of the disease.
The Dominican Republic has more direct flights from cities abroad than any other country in Central America and the Caribbean. This makes the country vulnerable to receiving a person with the virus from abroad.
Read more in Spanish:
El Caribe
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
26 February 2020