She said that medical personnel had looked after the patient, who is a foreigner whose identity is kept confidential, but that no medicine had been prescribed. “The recovered COVID-19 patient didn't take any medicine, we only did observation,” Odete da Silva Viegas said.
She also told that the patient no longer shows any symptoms. “There is no fever or cough symptoms anymore”, Odete da Silva Viegas stated. She said there is no medicine yet that can cure COVID-19 as such. “COVID19 does not have specific medicine, thus we only treat the symptoms. But currently there are no more symptoms. Thus he/she only needs to take one more test", Odete da Silva Viegas said.
On 21 March the acting minister of health announced in a press conference that there was a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Timor-Leste. People took measures to protect themselves from the corona-virus and to prevent it from spreading, as many stayed at home. On 24 March the Catholic Church in Timor-Leste started to suspend all eucharistic services, including public Easter mass. Schools, universities and sport activities were temporarily shut down.
On 27 March the president of the republic declared the state of emergency, for the duration of a month, from 28 March at 00:00 until 26 April 2020 at 23:59.
Meanwhile authorities have started to close the borders. Arriving passengers have been placed in quarantine. On Saturday 28 March there were already 283 people – mainly Timorese – in quarantine in several hotels in Dili, where conditions were far from optimal. Passengers arriving by plane on Sunday boosted the number of people in quarantine to approximately 400. “There are some people in quarantine who show symptoms of COVID-19,” Odete da Silva Viegas said. As of this week most of the commercial flights will be suspended. (***)
