It is a very beautiful city in the north of Portugal, which surely did not expect to be on alert for the coronavirus so early. This place is Povoa de Varzim, which has had impressive preventive measures imposed following the news that Luís Sepúlveda is infected with a coronavirus, The Chilean writer participated, a week ago, in Correntes d'Escritas - Meeting of writers of Iberian expression, renowned book festival in the Iberian Peninsula and beyond. Accompanied by his wife, they spent a total of 6 days in Povoa do Varzim. The DGS invited all the people who had contact with the writer remained confined at home, to avoid social contact and call Saude24. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you all about this coronavirus alert in Povoa do Varzim.
Póvoa de Varzim under alert for the coronavirus with the risk of contagion from Luís Sepúlveda
Thousands of people potentially affected
The Chilean writer Luís Sepúlveda participated in a festival with dozens of initiatives and more than a hundred writers of 14 nationalities. During this festival he took part in meetings, group meals, bus trips between the hotel and the Garrett cinema, he participated in an autograph session, gave interviews and had contacts with readers. . The writer, who was in Póvoa for six days, was able to have contact with hundreds, even thousands, of people.
The municipality, contacted by the newspaper JN, sent all communications on the case to the Directorate General of Health (DGS) during its meeting in the morning. Shortly after, in a press release, the municipality of Povoa do Varzim asked all employees who directly contacted the writer to "stay at home" and "avoid social contact".
During the six days he participated in the event, Luís Sepúlveda and his wife Carmen Yañez, 66, stayed at the Axis Vermar hotel, facing the ocean. The hotel unit is generally, at this time of the year, the roof and the restaurant of all those - writers, editors, journalists and photographers - participating in the festival.
The newspaper made several attempts to contact hotel officials and find out if and what containment measures are being taken, but management does not provide any clarification on the matter.
Evolution of coronavirus cases outside China
The DGS calls for serenity
As part of the Correntes d'Escritas festival, Sepúlveda, 70, participated on February 20 in a discussion table with the Portuguese writers José Luís Peixoto, José Gardeazabal and Paula Lobato Faria, the Spanish Marta Orriols and the German translator Michael Kegler .
José Luís Peixoto used Facebook to say that he had already been contacted by the festival organization. He says he has no symptoms and is "in excellent health". Even so, he will call, as requested, line Saúde 24 and wish Sepúlveda and Carmen "a speedy recovery".
The DGS calls for "everyone's serenity" and asks anyone who has been "in close contact" with the writer to call Saúde 24. The idea is to try to understand where the Chilean writer was infected and who may have infected him.
So far, nothing has been said about the number of people identified as "in close contact" with Sepúlveda and advised to stay at home.
In Portugal, the Directorate General of Health (DGS) has recorded 85 suspected cases of infection, 12 of which are still under investigation, after a suspicion in Madeira has been dismissed. There have been 73 cases that have tested negative, according to figures advanced this Sunday by the Directorate General of Health.
The Covid-19 epidemic, which originated in China, has already infected 87,161 people in 60 countries on five continents, of whom 2,980 have died.
