Coronavirus Case Now Confirmed In Colombia, Victim Returned From Milan, Italy

Colombia’s ministry of health has now confirmed its first case of Coronavirus, more formally known as COVID-19 in Bogotá after a 19-year-old Colombian student returned from studying fashion in Milan, Italy.

Authorities urge that one of the most effective means of prevention is to wash hands thoroughly and frequently.

The young woman arrived without symptoms but after a coed in Mexico showed signs of infection, she went to give samples for analysis which eventually turned up positive for the virus. Though 3 Colombians have been confirmed to be infected in Brazil and Japan, and there have been several suspected cases on Colombian territory that tested negative, this is the first case confirmed as positive. Several other Colombian travelers are being held in quarantine in Bogotá until their status can be confirmed.

Out of 105,828 global cases of Coronavirus, there is only 1 confirmed case in Colombia as of publication. (Infographic courtesy of Colombian Ministry of Health)

Meanwhile air travel, meetings, and street traffic continues as normal throughout Colombia, albeit with a small but noticeable minority of people wearing respiratory masks.

Last Friday, the Colombian Minister of Health and Social Protection Fernando Ruiz Gómez met with regional secretaries of health, EPS (employee health plan providers), IPS (health services providers such as clinics), insurers, and medical associations to establish and coordinate a response plan to Coronavirus, and activate contingency plans developed over the past 8 weeks.

Colombia is now one of 96 countries that have confirmed Coronavirus cases, including China, Romania, Italy, the US, México, Ecuador, Brazil, Chile, Peru & Canada.

Medical experts say that Coronavirus is most frequently propagated from human to human through cough droplets and respiratory tract excretions and may also be transmitted by close human contact or fecal contamination. The virus is believed to have propagated from animals to human, and there have been cases reported of dogs catching the virus from humans.