Woman arrested after faking coronavirus to skip queue at doctor's surgery

A woman has been arrested after she pretended to be suffering from the coronavirus so that she could be seen first at a doctor's surgery.

Claudia Maria Rosa da Silva told staff that she had just returned from Hong Kong, where she had worked as an au pair.

The 39-year-old claimed to be suffering from coronavirus symptoms, and was rushed ti the front of the queue at the health centre Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Her claims sparked an alert and caused health professionals to be busy for hours looking into her health.

The patient was taken to an isolated room and underwent medical tests.

The country's Health Ministry also warned the public about the situation.

But authorities later found out that the woman had never actually been abroad.

Investigations were carried out and her family were interviewed, where they confessed that they have made up everything so that they did not have to wait in the queue.

The Health Ministry later released an update stating that it was a false alarm and the police arrested the woman.

So far there have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Latin America.

It is unknown why the woman really went to the clinic.