Moldovan authorities take measures of supervising spread of coronavirus from China

Chisinau, 23 January /MOLDPRES/ - The situation as regards the coronaviruses (CoV) is supervised by the National Public Health Agency, jointly with the Customs Service, Border Police, in order to prevent the spread of this virus in Moldova. More needed measures have been undertaken to this end. Health, Labour and Social Protection Minister Viorica Dumbraveanu made statements to this effect today.  

According to the official, a comprehensive programme of warning the residents was initiated in Moldova. “People are urged to avoid contact with persons hit by respiratory infections, to abstain from travels, if they do not feel good, observe the so-called cough etiquette, as well as the elementary sanitary and hygienic norms,” Viorica Dumbraveanu said.   

The minister noted that these were the measures undertaken by Moldova’s authorities. Yet, ”now, recommendations by the World Health Organization are expected and at that time, we will know exactly, along with the other states, which are the prophylaxis measures, including of testing and identification of CoV.” ”This information will be made public immediately after it is received by the ministry,” Viorica Dumbraveanu stressed.    

The coronaviruses (CoV) represent a numerous family of viruses which cause diseases, from common cold to severer diseases, such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS - CoV) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). The new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is a new stem, which has not been earlier identified in man. The coronaviruses are zoonotic infections, which means that they can be transmitted between animals and people.    

Till 22 January 2020, at the global level, 600 laboratory-confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV infection were reported, most of them in China. Seventeen people died. The Chinese authorities have fully blocked, in order to hinder the spread, two cities where most cases of this virus were recorded: Wuhan (with a population of 11 million people) and Huanggang, 80 km far from the first city. At the same time, the Beijing authorities cancelled the manifestations occasioned by the marking of the Chinese New Year, due in the end of this week.    

In case of symptoms suggesting the presence of a respiratory disease, people are encouraged to ask for medical aid and inform medical employees about where they have travelled.