(Reuters) – Mexican authorities on Friday said they have identified a sixth person infected with coronavirus, a 71-year-old man in the State of Mexico who recently traveled to northern Italy.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said the man, who suffers from hypertension, arrived in Mexico in “grave condition” and is currently hospitalized in stable condition.
Lopez-Gatell said two of the man’s family members have been tested to check for the infection, with the results still awaited.
The confirmed cases are in Coahuila, Chiapas, Sinaloa, and Mexico City. All of the people are in isolation and receiving treatment.
The Ministry of Health reports 21 people with the flu, whose symptoms only resemble the coronavirus or COVID-19, are being monitored, tested and kept away from the public.
It also said in the report that about 60 people have been tested for coronavirus but received negative results.
Because of this, the Deputy Health Minister said Mexicans should not panic if they start to feel coronavirus symptoms. “If right now someone has these symptoms, it’s most likely that it’s because of the flu and not because of the coronavirus,” he said.
Globally the outbreak has led to over 100,000 cases of the fast-spreading illness and killed more than 3,400 people across over 90 nations, leading to massive worldwide economic disruption.