MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

First case of Covid-19 confirmed in Sao Paulo, Brazil

The possible case is a 61-year-old man, who traveled to northern Italy, to work, alone, in the period from the 9th to the 21st of February (Pic Reuters)

Brazil's Ministry of Health, in conjunction with the state and municipal departments of São Paulo, has confirmed a case of Coronavirus disease in the municipality of São Paulo. The business man had travelled this month to the north of Italy.

On February 25, 2020, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein registered the notification of suspected case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). In attendance, he adopted all preventive measures for droplet transmission, collected samples and performed tests for common respiratory viruses and the specific exam for SARS-CoV2 (RT-PCR, according to the Charité protocol), as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) .

With preliminary results performed by the health unit and in accordance with the National Contingency Plan, the hospital sent the sample to the national reference laboratory, Instituto Adolfo Lutz, for counterproof, which early Wednesday confirmed the infection.

The case is a 61-year-old man, residing in São Paulo it brings the history of travel to Italy, in the region of Lombardy (north of the country), to work, alone, in the period from the 9th to the 21st of February. It started with signs and symptoms (fever, dry cough, sore throat and runny nose) compatible with the suspected Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The patient is well, with mild signs and has received standard precautionary guidelines.

Brazilian authorities are carrying out the identification of contacts at home, hospital and flight, with support from Anvisa with the airline.