CDC announced that two new cases have been confirmed in the United States
THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2020 (HealthDay News) — After charting a slight decline in spread earlier this week, new coronavirus cases in China jumped by almost 15,000 in a single day, while the death count spiked to 1,367, Chinese health officials reported Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that two new cases have been confirmed in this country, upping the total from 13 to 15. Both of the new cases involved patients who were among the hundreds of American evacuees from China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
The latest case, announced Thursday, “is among a group of people under a federal quarantine order at JBSA-Lackland in Texas because of their recent return to the United States on a State Department-chartered flight that arrived on February 7, 2020,” the CDC said in a statement. “The individual is currently isolated and receiving medical care at a designated hospital nearby,” the agency said. The CDC added that testing of all evacuees is still underway, and “there will likely be additional cases [identified] in the coming days and weeks.”
“Most of the disease is in China. However, we can and should be prepared for this new virus to gain a foothold in the U.S.,” Nancy Messonier, M.D., director of the CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing held Wednesday. “At some point, we are likely to see community spread in the U.S. or other countries, and that will trigger a change in our response strategy.”
AP News Article
More Information: CDC
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