Two suspected coronavirus cases in Zilina

Two Slovaks with suspected coronavirus symptoms were admitted to hospital in Zilina on Thursday following their return from China. On Friday Katarina Kapustova from Martin University Hospital informed that they are stabilised at the moment. "The condition of the two men hasn't deteriorated and it doesn't require specific treatment. They're without fever and their current condition suggests a minor infection," said Kapustova. As she added the situation is under control at the moment so there's no reason for panic, as there's only a suspicion of possible infection with this virus. "We're now waiting for the results from samples that we've taken from them," said Kapustova. The suspected patients had spent some time in an area with an occurrence of the virus and had started to experience respiratory problems. "A nurse assessed this as a suspected coronavirus case and immediately put them into quarantine in the entrance room, so that they wouldn't come into contact with other patients," informed Zilina Faculty Hospital spokesperson Lenka Zatekova on Thursday late evening. The Zilina regional health authority ordered the two men to be transferred to the University Hospital in Martin. The Foreign Ministry meanwhile informed that Slovakia has two citizens in the Chinese province of Hubei where the novel coronavirus is spreading. The spokesman for the department Boris Gandel informed that the ministry was in contact with the citizens and that they were working on possibilities for their return to Slovakia. In the city of Wuhan, where a coronavirus outbreak originated, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not register any Slovak citizen.