Ecuador confirms five new cases of coronavirus, all close to initial patient

FILE PHOTO: People wear surgical masks at the Mariscal Sucre International Airport, after the first case of a fast-spreading new coronavirus was confirmed in the country, in Quito, Ecuador February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Daniel Tapia/File Photo

GUAYAQUIL (Reuters) - Ecuador has confirmed five cases of the new coronavirus in patients who all had direct contact with an elderly woman who brought the virus to the Andean country from Spain, health minister Catalina Andramuño said on Sunday.

The woman, an Ecuadorean citizen who resides in Spain, arrived in Ecuador on a direct flight from Madrid on Feb. 14 without presenting symptoms, but soon began to feel ill and was admitted to one of the public hospitals the government equipped to deal with the new virus.