By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

On Friday, the Ministry of Health launched the coronavirus prevention advertising campaign, which has already started running on open TV, radio and the internet. The advertising pieces guide the population to prevent the disease by adopting hygiene habits, such as washing hands with soap and water several times a day, making use of 70% gel alcohol and not sharing personal items.

As of Friday,  182 suspected cases of coronavirus are being monitored in Brazil. One case has been confirmed.

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The advertising campaign will run during the month of March and, in addition to information for preventing the disease, it presents the main symptoms of the coronavirus, which are fever, cough and difficulty breathing. The idea is to guide the population about the signs and symptoms of the disease and what should be done in these cases.

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In addition, The Secretary of Health Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, Wanderson de Oliveira, said that the laboratory capacity of Brazilian states for detecting the coronavirus will be expanded. “Currently, the central laboratories (Lacen) carry out tests for the most common respiratory viruses in the country. Next week, the Lacens from the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo, Sergipe, Minas Gerais and Amazonas will receive a validation and training kit so that they can perform the specific test for COVID-19. Then, systematically, we will expand to all central laboratories in the country, ”he said.

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Currently, national reference laboratories for the diagnosis of coronavirus are considered Fiocruz, in Rio de Janeiro, Instituto Adolfo Lutz, in São Paulo, Instituto Evandro Chagas (IEC), in Pará, and Lacen Goiás, in Goiânia. These already trained laboratories will help in the national effort to expand the laboratory capacity of the other Lacens.