The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, confirmed on Wednesday night the first positive case of the new coronavirus (Covid-19).
The Salvadoran president assured that it is a patient who allegedly entered the country illegally.
El Salvador has been on lockdown, one of the first countries in Central America to bar the entry of foreigners.
The case was located in the department of Metapán, where a health shield has already been installed for 48 hours. “Today, more than ever, we must be united,” said Bukele.
The confirmed case in El Salvador comes just minutes after Nicaraguan vice president Rosario Murillo reported on the first Covid-19 case on Nicaraguan soil, and hours after Costa Rica confirmed its first covid-19 death.
According to the press secretariat of the presidency of El Salvador, the patient is isolated and “it is very likely that he entered the country through a blind spot.”
“Just as we deal with the first stage of virus prevention, we will also continue working to contain it,” Bukele said on the national network.
The Salvadoran president also explained that a team of 80 people has been activated who will work with the support of the authorities to identify “Salvadorans who had contact with the patient who tested positive for Covid-19 to carry out the health tests.”
Bukele noted that El Salvador is prepared to attend 1,300 cases of coronavirus. “80% in care rooms and the other 20% in hospital beds,” Bukele said.
“We are going to fight so that the numbers are minimal. With the two hospitals we have for this and the care rooms, we are going to have the best facilities in Latin America to contain this virus,” declared the Salvadoran president.
Coronavirus Covid-19 in Central America (March 18, 2020):
- Belize: 0 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Costa Rica: 69 confirmed cases, 1 reported death
- Guatemala: 8 confirmed cases, 1 reported deaths
- Honduras: 12 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Nicaragua: 1 confirmed case, 0 reported deaths
- El Salvador: 1 confirmed case, 0 reported deaths
- Panama: 109 confirmed cases, 1 reported deaths
Total regional: 200 cases, 3 reported deaths
