Health Minister Elizabeth Hinostroza on Tuesday affirmed that if Peruvians fail to fulfill the
home quarantine —imposed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus— the country will find itself in a similar situation to what Italy and Spain are experiencing.
The minister urged Peruvians to be responsible and supportive of the measures provided, not only for ourselves but "in favor of our parents, grandparents, or friends."
The government official reported that 13 of said patients are hospitalized. Three (3) of them are undergoing mechanical ventilation (critical situation) and 10 are receiving oxygen therapy (stable condition). The rest are at home in self-isolation, and their evolution is stable since they are mild cases.
Therefore, she called for calm because —since the beginning— it was stated that less than 20% of infected cases would require hospitalization, while the rest (80%) would show a favorable evolution at home.
According to Hinostroza, the problem of this infection is not the number of hospitalized cases but the dispersion speed.
"It infects the elderly and vulnerable people whose immune system is not strong, and this results in an exponential increase of patients who need to go to the hospital," she concluded.
(END) RRC/RMB/MVB
Published: 3/17/2020