Suspected cases of coronaviruses detected in Portugal must be placed in an isolation area and the professionals who detect them must wear personal protective equipment.
The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) issued on Thursday at the end of the day a document with guidelines for health system professionals in Portugal for the prevention and control of infection by the new coronavirus detected in China and which has already infected about 10 One thousand people.
In the face of a suspicious case, the potential patient should be placed in an isolation area (a room, a room or an office), which allows social distance from other users or patients.
DGS calls for health facilities to display, in visible places, posters that alert users to the need to inform the security or administrative staff in case they have traveled in the last 14 days from Wuhan, from Hubei province or from areas affected by the new coronavirus and have symptoms of respiratory infection.
Health professionals should apply infection control measures to suspected cases as soon as the case is admitted to the health unit.
In the guidance issued, the DGS indicates that screening professionals or users’ registration should be guided and trained in the early detection of a possible suspected case.
Suspicious cases must remain iin referral hospitals, in a single isolation room with negative pressure and a private bathroom.
If the suspected case is in a second-line hospital, with no negative pressure isolation area, the potential patient should be placed in a single room with a ventilation system.
Health units must place professionals dedicated exclusively to the care of the case, restrict visits and keep a record of all people entering the area where the potential patient is isolated.
In the face of a suspicious case, the DGS defines that health units should promote the use of personal protective equipment.
The screening professional should give a surgical mask to the suspected patient, accompany him / her to a place away from other users, if possible to the isolation area defined in the institution’s contingency plan, avoiding the passage through places with crowds of people.
Health professionals should also wear personal protective equipment, such as a gown, mask, gloves and eye protection.
Faced with a suspicious case, professionals should contact the DGS medical helpline. If the suspicion is validated, the case will be “suspected under investigation” and the patient must remain in the defined isolation room and without contact with anyone other than qualified professionals.
INEM will then be responsible for transporting the case to a referral hospital.
The World Health Organization on Thursday declared an international public health emergency outbreak of the new coronavirus in China.
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