The first case of Covid-19 coronavirus has been confirmed in Ukraine, that's according to Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko.
"Yesterday I told you that we have four cases with suspicion, and today this suspicion is confirmed for one person," the official told a Kyiv briefing on the situation with countering the spread of coronavirus infection, an UNIAN correspondent reports.
"All materials and samples were transferred to the WHO laboratory, but the case was registered in Ukraine, and we started working with the persons the patient contacted with," Liashko added.
The official said the man recently returned from abroad. "A temperature screening was performed [at the border], the man’s temperature was normal, after which he returned to the Chernivtsi region through the state border crossing point. In Chernivtsi region, he underwent another temperature screening. The man traveled to countries where coronavirus had been recorded. A family that traveled, the spouses, they isolated themselves, and literally two days into self-isolation, the man had symptoms that suggested coronavirus infection, "he said.
According to Rada healthcare committee chief Mykhailo Radutsky, the man traveled to Italy, from where he flew to Romania and then crossed into Ukraine driving his car.
As reported earlier, as of March 3, a total of 90,937 laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 was registered worldwide, of which 3,117were fatal cases and 48,017 recoveries.
(The story has been updated with the paragraphs about temperature screening and trip details).
