Brasília

Brazil has at least nine cases of suspected Chinese coronavirus. The patients are from São Paulo (3), Santa Catarina (2), Rio de Janeiro (1), Minas Gerais (1), Paraná (1) and Ceará (1).

All of them are awaiting test results, according to the Ministry of Health.

"We do not currently have any confirmed cases of coronaviruses in Brazil," said the health surveillance secretary, Wanderson Oliveira, this Wednesday (29).

The death toll in China from the coronavirus outbreak reached more than 160 on Wednesday night (29), and the number of confirmed cases is now over 7,000 worldwide.

According to Oliveira, there were at least four other suspected cases, but examinations confirmed diagnosis for other diseases.

Medical workers transfer a patient who is on the mend out of the ICU (intensive care unit) of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 24, 2020. By Thursday midnight, Hubei Province in central China reported 549 cumulative confirmed cases of the new coronavirus pneumonia, with 495 in Wuhan, the provincial capital. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)

The first case of suspected coronavirus was released by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday (28). A 22-year-old student in Belo Horizonte traveled to the city of Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the disease. She says she did not go to the city's fish market (possibly the origin of the epidemic), nor did she have contact with sick people.

Her health condition is stable. After being seen, she was taken to a referral hospital and will remain in isolation until the results of the tests come out. Medical officials are monitoring about 14 people who had contact with the patient in Brazil.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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