-  Published: Tuesday, February 4, 2020-




By the A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services

The Ministry of Health announced that all ports of entry into the country will continue to receive foreigners from any nation, including China.

According to the ministry, the authorities of the main international airports, Juan Santamaría in Alajuela and Daniel Oduber in Guanacaste, have the specific guidelines and contingency plans to deal with any suspicious case of any passenger with the symptoms of the disease caused by the virus.

The airlines have clear instructions on how to proceed in case they detect a person who has symptoms of respiratory problems during flights. The airports have specific areas for the appropriate attention of travelers if they are classified as suspects. Also, in the case of detecting a passenger with positive symptoms, all passengers and flight crew will be controlled.

In addition, they have been informed of the procedure to deal with cases of tourists suspected of having some type of respiratory virus in tourist locations.

Processes have also been coordinated with hospitals and public and private clinics for the timely identification of suspicious cases, said the ministry.

"You have to be very clear that the World Health Organization currently does not recommend that restrictive measures be taken or to prevent people from arriving in China from different countries," said Daniel Salas, minister of Health.

In January health authorities began with the process of detection and treatment of a possible coronavirus patient.

The Ministry said it is receiving continuous information provided by the Institutional Operations Coordinating Center and the Pan American Health Organization.

Meanwhile, in China, Voice of America Monday reported the country opened a 1,000-bed hospital that crews rushed to build to help cope with a coronavirus outbreak that has sickened more than 17,200 people and killed at least 361 in China alone.

The World Health Organization says it expects the number of cases to grow as test results from thousands of pending cases come in.

The virus has been largely confined to China, although there are about 150 cases in 23 other countries. The Philippines on Sunday reported the first death due to the virus outside of China.

Chinese officials say more than 7,500 workers took part in building the new hospital in Wuhan, the city at the center of the epidemic.

The workers began construction Jan. 25 and are expected to complete the second hospital in Wuhan within days.

Chinese authorities have tried to stop the spread by instituting bans on movement in certain regions and extending holidays to keep people away from schools and other large gatherings.

According to the VOA report, other nations, including the United States, put in place restrictions on those traveling from China.

The United States began mandatory 14-day quarantines Sunday for U.S. citizens who had been in Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital, and entry for most non-U.S. citizens who traveled to China within the past two weeks are prohibited.

U.S. citizens and their immediate families, along with permanent residents and flight crews traveling from China are being flown to certain airports for extra screening.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said Monday the United States is already prepared to provide housing for up to 1,000 people who may need to be quarantined. He also said the United States is “always planning for eventualities and how we may be asked by civilian partners to assist.”

Acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf said the overall risk to Americans remains low. He added that the new rules could add stress and travel time for some passengers, but said, "Public health and security experts agree these measures are necessary to contain the virus and protect the American people."

According to Voice of America report, President Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States has shut down the coronavirus coming in from China, even as officials in San Francisco reported a ninth confirmed U.S. case.

"We've offered China help, but we can't have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem, the coronavirus," Trump said. "So we're going to see what happens, but we did shut it down."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday "a handful more flights" will be going to China to evacuate Americans from Hubei Province. Speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan, Pompeo said the United States "might bring in some medical supplies" as well.

He said experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already are in Kazakhstan, which shares a long eastern border with China.

World Health declared the outbreak a global health emergency last week.

The number of people who have died from the virus in China has now surpassed the total Chinese death toll from the 2002-03 outbreak of SARS, another coronavirus that surfaced in that country. That epidemic killed nearly 800 people around the world.


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