Mexican authorities said on Friday they have confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Mexico, in what is only the second case in Latin America.
A patient with a possible coronavirus infection went through a second test that turned up positive results early on Friday, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez told reporters.
The man was linked to a second case confirmed this morning, a 41-year-old in the northern state of Sinaloa, Lopez-Gatell told reporters, speaking alongside President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Both men recently returned from Italy.
President Lopez Obrador urged the population to remain calm.
“We have the capacity to handle this situation,” he said. “Because according to the information available, this is not something terrible, really bad.”
The government will hold a daily 9 p.m. news conference until further notice to update the public on the coronavirus infections, Lopez Obrador added.
The Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport of Puerto Vallarta, and the Integral Port Administration (API), currently has a group of epidemiologists to try to contain the entry of any type of epidemic.
“The Department of International Health is a group of doctors and nurses specialized in epidemiology, not only coronavirus, but any disease that may pose a risk to Puerto Vallarta and the region.”
Álvarez Zayas said that the measures are taking place for any people from China, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and even the United States, a neighboring country in which a case has already been registered.
Álvarez Zayas clarified that at this moment there is no contingency situation in Puerto Vallarta, they simply take the necessary precautionary measures.
This story was updated to include a second confirmed case in Sinaloa.
