New coronavirus infections in Antwerp and Rome, cases in Iceland and Andorra
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In Italy, Monday saw the first case of the coronavirus in the capital Rome as a policeman tested positive for COVID-19 at the capital’s Spallanzani Hospital. The man’s movements and contacts have been reconstructed, regional health councillor Alessio D’Amato said.
“The epidemiological link with the Lombardy region has been confirmed,” said the councillor.
Meanwhile Belgium’s second case of infection by the coronavirus has been announced by federal health minister Maggie De Block whilst Iceland and Andorra have reported cases of coronavirus.
The woman in the latest case in Belgium is reported to be a Dutch speaker, and is currently being looked after in the Antwerp university hospital (UZA), the reference hospital for the north of the country.
“She was returning from one of the regions affected in France,” said Vinciane Charlier, spokesperson for the federal health ministry. “She followed the care protocol established for Belgium, which is how she came to be diagnosed.”
The protocol includes reporting for testing if returning to Belgium from a region where the disease has been recorded. According to Flemish health minister Wouter Beke, the woman presented at the UZA voluntarily on returning from a business trip to a region in France where cases of infection had been recorded.
Beke said the Flemish health care agency would now be contacting anyone the woman had been in contact with since her return on 26 February, and placing them in isolation if necessary. At the moment, he said, “Prevention is better than cure.”
However despite the latest case being the beginning of a new phase in the disease’s progress in Belgium, at the press conference, Professor Marc Van Ranst said the discovery of new cases is not a worry, because those cases can be treated.
“We are more concerned about those cases that go undiscovered,” he said. “The job now is to make sure we keep the net as fine as possible.”
Belgium’s first case of coronavirus infection emerged at the beginning of February in Brussels. The patient, Philip Soubry, was kept in isolation and later discharged from St-Pierre hospital when he tested negative. He reported no symptoms at all.
First coronavirus case in Andorra
A 20 year-old man with mild symptoms who was recently in Italy is the first coronavirus case registered in Andorra, the government announced on Monday.
The man was recently in Milan and was hospitalised on Saturday.The tests conducted have shown a positive infection, and he will remain in hospital for further tests and his immediate social circle will be monitored, the government said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the first three cases of people infected with coronavirus have been confirmed in Iceland, the country’s Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management said in a statement late on Sunday.
The first patient was diagnosed on Friday while two other patients were confirmed during the weekend. All three patients had spent time on holiday in northern Italy, authorities said.
