Three additional people have been infected with thecoronavirusin the United States, bringing the total number of cases to 11.
On Friday, a seventh infection was detected in California, according to a statement from the CDC. The patient had recently returned from Wuhan, China, which isthe epicenter of the disease.
TheMassachusetts Department of Public Healthannounced on Saturday that an eighth infection had been confirmed in Boston. The man, who is in his 20s, had recently returned from Wuhan.
Three additional cases were confirmed in California on Sunday, according toThe New York Times.San Benito County’s Health and Human Services agency said in a statement that a husband, who had recently traveled to Wuhan, and his wife had contracted the disease, making it thesecond case of human to human transmission in the country.
As of Sunday, China’s Health Commission reported that the number of fatalities from thecoronavirushad reached 361 nationwide, meaning the death toll had exceeded that of the SARS outbreak, which killed 349 people in mainland China, theTimesreported. China’s Health Commission also reported that there had been 475 recoveries.
Over the weekend, thefirst death outside of Chinawas reported, the CDC confirmed at a press conference on Monday. The man, who was 44 and lived in Wuhan, died in the Philippines on Saturday, the Worldwide Health Organization said in a statement.
The U.S. is among 19 countries that the virus, currently referred to as 2019-nCoV as researchers work to understand more about this version of coronavirus, has spread to.
Until Thursday, all U.S. cases of the disease were in people who had traveled to Wuhan. But the CDC announced that thefirst U.S. case of human to human transmissionoccurredin a husband and wife in Chicago.
Still, the CDC has stressed that the majority of Americans are at “low” risk of contracting the virus, particularly as several major airlines, including Delta and American, have announced that they are canceling all flights to or from China for the next few months.
In a press briefly on Friday, Messonnier also urged Americans to “not let fear or panic guide your actions,” emphasizing that it is not right to assume that a person of Asian descent has the coronavirus.
“Please do not assume that because a person is of Asian descent, that they have this new coronavirus,” she said. “There are 4 million Chinese-Americans in this country.”
PEOPLE
The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a “public health emergency,” after a week of deliberations and a previous decision to hold off on any declarations.
On Friday, a high-ranking Chinese official said he feels “guilty” for not acting quicker to stop the spread of coronavirus,The New York Timesreported.
source: people.com
