The number of people infected with Coronavirus in Albania has increased to 377 with an increase of 16 in the last 24 hours.
The announcement was made this morning during a live press conference from the Ministry of Health. Although the number of cases is increasing, there are fewer new cases than yesterday when 28 were found in the preceding 24 hours.
The number of those who lost their lives to the virus has increased to 21 as boxing coach Skender Kurti passed away last night at Tirana’s Infectious Diseases hospital.
Deputy Minister of Health and Social Protection Mira Rakacolli said that in the last 24 hours, 175 tests were administered, 16 of which came back positive. In total 2571 cases have been carried out.
In terms of recovered patients, a further 12 have come back with negative test results. The total number cured from COVID-19 stands at 116.
Rakacolli said that there are 66 patients in the Infectious Diseases Hospital and five in intensive care. In Hospital Shefqet Ndroqi there are seven patients hospitalised, six of which are in intensive care.
The geographical distribution of cases is as follows: Tirana (177), Durres (38), Lushnje (5), Elbasan (10), Fier (26), Kavaja (8), Rrogozhine (4), Korce (16), Vlore (5), Shkoder (44), Lezhe (14), Berat (2), Has (12), Kruje (5), Tropoje (4), Puka (4), Mirdita (3).
Most of the new cases are in Shkodra, Tirana and Has which the Ministry says is due to the “disrespect of social distancing and infection control measures” that have been recommended.
Rakacolli said:
“The Ministry of Health and Social Protection urges citizens to continue to respect social distancing measures. As the figures of recent days show, where there are cases within the same family, it is important that infection control measures are respected to the maximum within family circles, avoiding visits to relatives for any reason to prevent COVID-19 transmission.”
The government has limited testing only to people over 65, the chronically ill, and those who have had contact with infected patients. Anyone who suspects they may be suffering from the disease is urged to stay at home and call 127. For any questions about COVID-119, call freephone 08004040.
