This morning, the Andorran Ministry of Health confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the Principality. The 20-year-old man who returned from Milan this weekend turned out to be infected. He is hospitalized, receives medical assistance and his condition is closely monitored. Today, at a press conference, the Minister of Health, Joan Martínez Benazet, spoke about precautions and called on Andorrans to keep calm, but did not exclude the possibility of new cases of infection:
“Over the past week, 14 emergency telephone calls have been recorded: 10 calls came from people who returned from risk areas and 4 calls from those who have planned travel to one of the focal countries of the infection.
One of the calls was positive, involving two Andorran women who flew in the same plane with a passenger infected with a coronavirus; they are now under home medical supervision.
I continue to recommend, if possible, to avoid travel to the four regions of northern Italy, to Iran, China, Japan, Singapore and North Korea. Upon returning from these countries, it is necessary to inform about the visit to the affected area in order to get all the necessary information about the first symptoms of the disease and in case of their detection immediately contact the special emergency service (+376 324 292).
If travel to the above countries is a necessity, you must register in the passenger registry, available on the exteriors website exteriors. ad
All tests that must be performed for the presence of coronavirus are sent to Madrid. Their cost is fully covered by the Ministry of Health of Andorra.
Tourists visiting Andorra have absolutely nothing to fear so far. Andorra itself is at risk, remaining a popular tourist destination. Our key point is streamlined communication between neighboring countries, as well as other states.
The main advantage of Andorra is that as a small country, it is easier for us to identify a source of danger and to provide an individual, personal approach in each special case. Our weak point, as I said, is that our country is a tourist area, therefore harder to control. It is logical to assume that more cases may be recorded in Andorra. The risk, however, is not greater than in any major city in Spain.
The treatment we give to an infected patient is respiratory support. As it is a completely new virus, we do not have a vaccine yet. The good news is that infant mortality caused by the virus is currently zero.”
