Press releases
Coronavirus reaches Belarus’ southeast
An archive photo
MINSK, 11 March (BelTA) – Two more people – one from Gomel in Belarus’ southeast and the other one from Minsk – have tested positive for COVID-19, BelTA learned from the official Telegram channel of the Belarusian Healthcare Ministry.
A Belarusian national returning from Portugal took a test for the infection at Minsk National Airport. His swab test came back positive, the message reads.
The National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology is carrying out additional in-depth laboratory tests of this person. The patient was taken to Gomel Oblast Infectious Diseases Hospital. At present he is in satisfactory condition. The people who had direct exposure to him were also hospitalized. These are the people who came with him from abroad and who sat close to him on the plane. Taking into consideration that the tests were taken upon arrival, the possibility of the further spread of the infection from these people is minimal.
Additional tests are also performed on one of the patients in Minsk who arrived from Germany and concealed the fact that he had been in the north of Italy.
Thus, as of 11 March, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Belarus has risen to 11. All the patients diagnosed with the virus are in hospital. Three of them will be discharged soon. All the patients are in satisfactory condition, they have no fever or any other clinical symptoms of disease.
A reminder, this weekend the coronavirus RNA was confirmed in three patients who had contact with confirmed cases. The preventive isolation of these people and medical observation allowed suppressing the disease and curbing the spread of the infection.
At the same time, three people have already been cured of coronavirus. The student from Iran who was Belarus’ first coronavirus case tested negative for the virus three times. The other two coronavirus patients who had come in close contact with him also tested negative.
The Healthcare Ministry calls on all people coming to Belarus to notify medical staff at border checkpoints about their visits to high-risk areas. The ministry also urges high-risk contacts to avoid direct contact with other people as much as possible for the duration of the incubation period (up to 14 days). Those who show symptoms of a respiratory infection should call an ambulance and tell the dispatcher which countries they visited.
print version
make home page
add to bookmarks
