chargement...
Morocco confirmed, Thursday, that it has detected a second case of the novel coronavirus in the country after a citizen returned from Italy, the Health Ministry said in a press release.
Later during the day, Mohamed Lyoubi, the director of the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division at the Health Ministry, said in a press conference held in Rabat that the patient is an 89-year-old woman that came back from Bologna, a city in northern Italy where hundreds of people have been infected by the virus.
«She came from Italy through the Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport on February 25», Lyoubi said, adding that the patient «has been admitted in one of Casablanca’s hospitals».
When she landed in Casablanca, the patient did «not show any symptoms related to the virus», the official recalled, adding that «days later, she started to show symptoms» that were not similar to the ones detected in an infected patient.
Lyoubi explained that two days ago, the patient «started having respiratory symptoms, which pushed one of her family members to call the Health Ministry’s hotline» launched to assist citizens with suspected coronavirus symptoms.
The patient was then assisted and taken to a laboratory to undergo coronavirus tests. «Yesterday, around midnight, the case was confirmed after she tested positive for the virus», Lyoubi said.
The patient is in a critical condition
According to the Health Ministry official, the «patient is in a critical condition because she suffers from a chronic illness». As for the people who had contact with the patient, Lyoubi stressed that the sanitary authorities are monitoring their health condition.
«Those who were on the same plane as the patient will also be identified and monitored by the health authorities», he reassured.
The patient in question is currently being treated in an isolation unit at a hospital in Casablanca, where she will be taken care of in accordance with the sanitary procedures in place, the Ministry said earlier today.
Earlier this week, sanitary authorities in Morocco announced the country’s first confirmed coronavirus case. The patient is a Moroccan who visited Italy and tested positive for the virus once in Morocco.
In a press conference held Tuesday, the Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb said that the patient is a 39-year-old Moroccan who came from Bergamo, an Italian city northeast of Milan. The man entered Morocco by the end of February through the Mohammed VI airport in Casablanca.
For the record, Italy has recorded the highest number of infected cases outside Asia, where the virus erupted in December 2019. In Italy, the coronavirus death toll reached 107 and the infected cases stood at around 3,089.
