Einstein Hospital Confirms 16 New Coronavirus Cases; Total Rises to 69

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in São Paulo told the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo that it has confirmed, on Wednesday alone, 16 new infections of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

As the results of these tests were released over the past few hours, they have not yet been notified to the Ministry of Health, since the health units have up to 24 hours to notify the portfolio of disease records.

With the new cases, and expecting a new confirmation in Bahia, the number of confirmed infections in the country rises to 69. In addition to the 16 recorded on Wednesday by Einstein, 52 had already been disclosed in the afternoon by the Ministry.

According to the hospital’s press office, since the virus began to spread in the country, 38 infections have already been confirmed in the hospital, but 22 had already been reported to the government.

In recent days, Einstein has recorded an exponential increase in the number of suspected patients seeking emergency care. The number of tests for the disease carried out in the unit rose from 259 on March 9th to 492 on Wednesday.

In a statement, the government of Bahia said that Wednesday’s new case, the third in the state, was confirmed in a 68-year-old woman who had home contact with the second patient when she was still asymptomatic.

Now, the new patient is experiencing mild symptoms and is in home isolation, taking all precautionary contact measures.