Angola announces plan to curb Coronavirus

Making the announcement on Saturday, the minister of Health Sílvia Lutucuta said the plan consists of installing thermometers in the busiest places.

She quoted Luanda's 4 de Fevereiro International Airport, implementing preventive measures in ports, land borders and overcrowded passenger stops.

"The installation of thermometers at the airport will help to quickly identify changes in body temperature and pay special attention to arriving passengers," the minister told a multi-sector meeting aimed to evaluate the containment measures.


The Ministry of Health will set up multidisciplinary medical teams at the International Airport 04 de Fevereiro to carry out this control in all areas, said Sílvia Lutucuta, urging all citizens to clean their hands and pay attention to symptoms such as cough, high fever and difficulty breathing, considered the most common of this virus that has been spreading in China and Europe.


The virus, which has not yet reached Africa/Angola, has had the city of Wuhan (China) as its epicenter since last December. So far, it has killed at least 41 people.


Chinese state TV on Friday night (24) put at 1,000 the number of people infected with the virus in China.


Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, but only seven are known to infect humans. In more severe cases, they can progress to pneumonia and severe acute respiratory syndrome or cause kidney failure.

In addition to China, the virus has already reached 12 countries with confirmed cases of the disease: France, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the United States, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Nepal, Thailand, Australia, and Malaysia, according to BBC NEWS.


In its two-day meeting, the World Health Organisation (WHO) decided not to declare this outbreak a global emergency.


To prevent the virus from entering Angola, Sílvia Lutucuta spoke of the need of all ministerial departments and the private health sector to work on assertive measures.