4 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Portugal, Lisbon and Porto hospitals already running out of capacity
Portugal has announced the confirmation of the first two cases of coronavirus on its territory. The two positive cases are found in Porto. A doctor from Tâmega e Sousa hospital, who was on vacation in northern Italy, was hospitalized yesterday afternoon at Santo António Hospital in Porto. The second confirmed case of coronavirus is a person working in Spain. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you all about the first two confirmed cases of coronavirus on Portuguese soil.
After two cases confirmed by the Portuguese General Directorate of Health and the Ministry of Health, of two men aged 60 and 33, TVI said that two other cases had been confirmed, concerning two doctors. According to the TV channel, a 24-year-old doctor is admitted to the São João hospital in Porto.
Although the first analyzes were positive, the two cases are still awaiting confirmation of a counter-analysis by the National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge. In total, 14 people are in complete isolation in the hospitals of Santo António and São João, including eight doctors.
The Portuguese General Directorate of Health has not yet confirmed the information. The two cases are subject to a counter-analysis, the newspaper said. Health Minister Marta Temido will give a talk this morning.
Director General of Health Graça Freitas said on Monday that the hospitals in Santo António and São João, where suspicions of covid-19 are being referred, have already "exhausted their capacity" to receive patients in the service of infectious diseases.
However, four hospitals in northern Portugal have been activated, said Graça Freitas. "I received a call (...) which told me that [the hospitals of] Santo António and São João were running out of capacity" and that, for this reason, he spoke with the Regional Administration of the health of the northern region to "activate the other four hospitals that were ready to be activated".
The coronavirus epidemic is spreading all over the world and Portugal fears that it will be seriously affected by this infection which mainly affects the elderly.