Colombia’s health minister confirmed his country’s first confirmed case of coronavirus that has been spreading around the globe.
At a press conference, Health Minister Fernando Ruiz said the virus was carried by a 19-year-old woman traveling from Italy.
Sixteen people who the woman has been in contact with have been put under observation as part of a contingency plan that was activated after the first case was confirmed.
President Ivan Duque urged calm and “not be carried away by paranoia.”
President Ivan Duque
The government for days has warned that the arrival of the virus was a matter of time.
Health and migration authorities have been developing protocols to prevent the virus from spreading as much as possible that will now be put to the test.
Colombia to scrutinize travelers as coronavirus risk level raised to high
According to the World Health Organization, some 100,000 people have contracted the virus worldwide. 3,000 of these patients have died, mainly in China, the BBC reported Friday.