Two new coronavirus cases in Mallorca

MALLORCA has two new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number by Tuesday to three.

Both had recently spent time in northern Italy, the worst affected region in Europe.

A Palma woman believed to be aged between 30 and 40 who had been in Lombardy within the last few weeks began to show minor symptoms compatible with coronavirus last Thursday, specifically a cough and a temperature. She tested positive after she was admitted to the Son Espases hospital.

According to reports she has two children, one aged five and a 19-year old who is pregnant, but neither has been infected. A number of other people with whom the woman has had contact are being monitored.

A 68-year old woman who spent a week in the Italian city of Turin then tested positive for the virus on Monday night.

She went to the Son Llatzer hospital in Palma feeling unwell and running a fever. In accordance with current protocol, the hospital did the coronavirus test and sent her home with strict instructions on how to avoid infecting anyone else. When the results came back positive from Madrid the woman was notified and an ambulance sent to her home to collect her.

She is now in isolation at the hospital and a second test has been sent to the Carlos III Health Institute National Microbiology Centre in the national capital to confirm the results.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Public Health and Participation is carrying out the corresponding study to establish with whom the woman could have been in contact.

The Balearic Island government’s Health and Consumer department has appealed for respect for the patients’ privacy and issued reassurances of its confidence in the region’s health professionals and their work in close coordination with the Health Ministry.

Last month a British resident became Mallorca’s first coronavirus case after picking it up on a skiing holiday in the French Alps. He was kept in hospital for several days before he was allowed to return home.