COVID-19
Reuters

An infectious disease specialist said that there is a need to intensify the coronavirus test in Mexico to combat the infectious disease that continues to swell around the world.

Mexico has recorded seven cases of COVID-19 as of March 10 but this number is very low according to an infectious disease specialist Francisco Moreno Sanchez. He is the head of internal medicine at the ABC hospital.

He described the situation as very worrying because there are only three medical centers in the country that has the certification to test COVID-19. This means that it is very difficult for the country to control the widespread of the virus due to a lack of testing centers.

It can be recalled that one of the problems that the United States faced today is the lack of testing centers that led thousands of individuals with COVID-19 symptoms to remain not treated.

During Sanchez's radio interview, he said that the healthcare service in the country will struggle to provide the adequate treatment needed if coronavirus outbreak will occur in Mexico.

Moreno asserted that there should be more testing centers or the country should carry out more coronavirus tests to place people who have COVID-19 symptoms under quarantine. This will help to control the spread of the virus and deaths will also be avoided.

Moreno also said that COVID-19 is 25 times more deadly compared to influenza. For him, it seems that the government is taking the problem too lightly amidst the swelling number of COVID-19 patients that already reached more than 100,000 around the world.

He also stressed that the government should intensify all entry points like airports to control the spread of the virus that first originated in China. At present, more than 100 countries around the world already have confirmed cases of COVID-19.

According to the World Health Organization that all seven COVID-19 patients in Mexico have travel history. This means that they contracted the virus outside the country. Following this, there were reported cases of local transmission in at least five countries in Latin America.

He also suspects that the widespread of the virus in Mexico is at great risk compared to other Latin countries. COVID-19 patients in the U.S. continue to swell and Mexico shares a border with the United States. There are also many Mexicans who travel daily across the border.

It is the reason why early detection of the virus is very important. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine in Norwich, England, said: "It's simple: if tests aren't done, you can't know how many cases there are. Several countries haven't reported any cases but the question is whether they've tested anyone."

This statement gives a whole picture that the number of COVID-19 cases reported every day is not the exact number because individuals who have COVID-19 symptoms are not yet tested. At present, the virus has claimed more than 4,000 lives globally and is expected to increase if early detection will not be done.