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Published Wednesday, March 4, 2020
New guidelines issued to counter new virus
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Ministry of Health confirmed that in the country there are no cases of patients with the new coronavirus. However, due to the high possibility that a person carrying Covid-19 will enter the country, the agency established new guidelines.
According to the ministry, more precautions and changes are needed in public places where there are groups of people, such as churches, public transport, airports, work places, tourist sites, mass events, embassies, airports and schools, among others.
For example, at the churches or religious organizations, people can not have physical contact during the Masses and should avoiding hand-to-mouth contact, said the ministry.
Health authorities called on Roman Catholic priests to avoiding putting the Holy Eucharist in a parishioner's mouths during Holy Communion. Also, parishioners avoid physical contact in the ritual of greeting of peace, said the ministry.
With respect to other places, where there people gather, such as tourist centers, parks, schools, clinics, airports, among others, the guidelines call for:
- Constant cleaning of restrooms.
- Free access to soap and water for the public for frequent hand washing.
- Placing signs in visible places with the preventive measures of hand washing and the correct way to sneeze or cough.
- Staff must be alert to detect people with fever or respiratory illness.
- When detecting people with possible virus infection, those in charge should keep the sick person separated from close contact with other people.
- Health authorities should be called if there is suspicion of a person infected with the virus.
The complete list of guidelines, in Spanish, can be seen on the ministry's website.
According to the ministry, all the people who have been tagged as suspicious cases have performed the medical examinations and have been found to have other types of common respiratory viruses. No person has been positive for the coronavirus Covid-19, the ministry said.
Last week the ministry has attended in airports 149 cases of passengers suspected of having the virus. However, after medical results, the coronavirus has been ruled out.
According to the authorities, pilots are those who report travelers with the first symptom of risk, which is body temperature.
Airport authorities should quickly notify the Ministry of Health about the suspected case, according to the existing rules.
In both international airports, Juan Santamaría in
Alajuela and Daniel Oduber in
Guanacaste, special rooms have been set up to proceed with a medical test of travelers who are detected with a fever greater than or equal to 38 C about 100.4 F.
According to medical authorities, four types of coronaviruses are common: human coronavirus 229E, human coronavirus OC43, human coronavirus NL63 and human coronavirus HKU 1. Also, there are other common respiratory viruses.
In clinics, and hospitals in the country, both public and private, people who have been treated by specialists, have given positive results but only for these common viruses.
None of the people served at border clinics or terminals, such as airports, border posts or seaports, has been positive with Covid-19.
Last week, the National Laboratory reported already able to implement the specific lab test to diagnose the disease known as coronavirus Covid-19, the officials said.
According to the ministry, the test is a molecular one known as a real-time polymerase chain reaction, PCR-TR.
If a suspicious case arises, the test is able to rule out or confirm the presence of the virus without having to send the sample outside the country.
However, this important resource will be available only to Health authorities who will decide which samples will be processed in the laboratory.
In February the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on the evacuation of two Costa Ricans from the City of Wuhan in China that took place with the help of the government of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government confirmed that the two women, surnamed Reyes-Pérez and Torres-Pérez remain in quarantine before a trip to Costa Rica can be authorized.
According to the consulate in China, 386 Costa Ricans live there. None has been reported affected by the coronavirus.
Also, the authorities confirmed the shipment of medical supplies, disposable gloves, soap, towels and 1,000 masks for the use of Costa Ricans living in China.
The Ministry of Health is in the process of sending to China a donation of medical supplies, which include gloves and 200,000 masks.
According to the most current information from the World Health Organization Tuesday night, 92,849 coronavirus cases have been reported around the world, and 3,168 patients died.
In China, where the virus was first detected, 80,152 cases were confirmed, and 2,870 patients died. The mayor number of cases confirmed outside of China are:
- In the Diamond Princess, cruise liner docked in Japan, 706, 6 deaths registered.
- Italy, 2,502 cases, 79 died.
- Iran, 2,336 cases, 77 died.
- South. Korea 5,186, 34 died.
- In the U.S. 108 cases, nine died.
- Japan, 293 cases, six died.
- France 212 cases, four died.
- Hong Kong, 101 cases, two died.
One patient died in Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, The Philippines, Spain and San Marino.
In the America cases were confirmed in Chile, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Argentina, as well as the United States.
Other countries, with cases are: Singapore, Bahrain, Germany, Kuwait, Malaysia, Vietnam, U.K., U.A.E., Macao, Iraq, Oman, Croatia, India, Austria, Finland, Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Russia, Sweden, Afghanistan, Algeria, Belgium, Cambodia, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, North Macedonia, Nepal, Norway, Romania, Sri Lanka, Bahrain Kuwait, Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Estonia, Denmark, Georgia, Qatar, Iceland, Ecuador, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
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Have you heard of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in your country? We would
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