3 suspected cases of coronavirus being tested in Washtenaw, Macomb counties
Two people from Washtenaw County and one person from Macomb County may have the Wuhan coronavirus, state health officials said Friday afternoon.
They’re the latest in a quickly spreading global outbreak that appears to have started in December at a seafood market in Wuhan, China. So far, hundreds have been sickened and 41 people have died, USA Today reported.
All three people from Michigan who are being tested for the virus have presented with mild illness, and all recently traveled to the Wuhan area of China or were in contact with travelers to that region, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
They all have agreed to stay isolated until their cases can be definitively identified by testing from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I can tell you that neither of the two folks that have had their specimens approved for testing are severely ill,” in Washtenaw County, said Susan Ringler Cerniglia, a spokeswoman for the Washtenaw County Health Department.
“They are isolated as a precaution until we know for sure. One thing we don’t know is how quickly it spreads from person to person, so we’re keeping people isolated until we know how contagious it is.
“They are having mild symptoms. They both have this combination we’re worried about — it’s exposure to Wuhan, China, and the respiratory symptoms. Anyone who has traveled anywhere in China and is experiencing respiratory symptoms should check in with a health care provider.”
CDC confirms second US Wuhan coronavirus case
A second case of Wuhan coronavirus in the United States has been identified in Chicago, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in a press briefing. The patient is a Chicago resident in her 60s. She is in isolation at a hospital in Chicago, and is in stable condition. The patient flew from Wuhan to Chicago on January 13. She was not ill while traveling and health authorities do not think she spread the virus during that time. Health authorities say she has had limited close contacts since returning to Chicago; she has not used public transit, attended large gatherings or had extended close contact with anyone outside her home.
Person ‘who passed through’ Nassau County being tested for coronavirus
A person who “passed through Nassau” County is being tested for the coronavirus that has killed 41 people and sickened nearly 1,300 in China, Nassau’s health commissioner said Friday.
Commissioner Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein said he did not have details about the individual, including whether the person currently is in Nassau or lives in the county.
He referred questions to the New York State Department of Health, which sent a morning statement from the office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that said the health department “currently has four persons under investigation for novel coronavirus that are under isolation as their cases are being tested at the CDC.”
One of those cases was determined to be negative; the others are pending, the state said.
Asked about the case of the person who visited Nassau, a state health department spokeswoman said that “due to patient confidentiality, we cannot release any further information.”
France confirms third coronavirus case
France on Friday announced three confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, the first outside Asia and the United States.
Authorities said all three sickened people had traveled to China, and two of them belonged to the same family. They were the first cases registered in Europe.
Australia’s first coronavirus case confirmed in Victoria
Victorian health officials have confirmed a man has coronavirus, in the first confirmed case of the SARS-like virus in Australia.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the sick Chinese national arrived in Melbourne on 19 January after spending two weeks in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
“It is important to stress that there is no cause for alarm to the community. The patient is isolated and is undergoing treatment and we do not have any further suspected cases at this stage,” Ms Mikakos told reporters on Saturday afternoon.
Coronavirus: NJ patient doesn’t have virus, hospital says
A patient at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey who was evaluated Thursday night for possible infection with the coronavirus that has caused worldwide concern of a possible epidemic was determined not to have the disease, the hospital said.
“After an evaluation of the patient and consulting with the State Department of Health, experts have determined the patient does not have the Wuhan coronavirus,” Nancy Radwin, a hospital spokeswoman, said in a statement issued at 10:55 p.m. ET.
The patient, a 25-year-old woman, was transported to the hospital Thursday evening by the Edgewater Emergency Medical Services, according to EMS sources. The hospital said it would provide no further information about her condition, to protect her privacy.