Three people hospitalized in Jalisco for possible cases of the coronavirus have tested negative for the disease, the state Health Secretary announced on Saturday.
“Mexico is free of the coronavirus for now,” said Fernando Petersen Aranguren at a press conference.
The cases in Jalisco were reported on Thursday, just after a Tamaulipas man tested negative for the coronavirus.
The suspected patients were a 42-year-old man who had traveled to Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began, and a 37-year-old woman and a two-year-old girl with whom he had contact. They are currently receiving medical treatment for other respiratory illnesses.
Mexico has seen a total of seven possible cases of the coronavirus, none of which have tested positive.
No new possible cases were identified over the weekend.
The epidemiology department of the federal Health Secretariat reported that the virus’s mortality rate is 2.8%, and not 1% as previously thought.
The total number of confirmed cases worldwide has risen to 2,835 and 81 people have died from the disease, all in China.
Meanwhile, 57 people have recovered from it and have been discharged from hospital.
All of the confirmed cases reported outside of China stemmed from travel to the country, except for one case in Vietnam, which was transmitted from the first case reported in that country.
The Health Secretariat announced that a travel advisory to avoid all unnecessary travel to Wuhan, China, is still in effect.
Sources: El Economista (sp), El Universal (sp), Proceso (sp)
