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Coronavirus: California Update After Second US Case Announced
In California, health screenings of incoming passengers at Los Angeles International and San Francisco International airports are underway.
By Toni McAllister, Patch Staff
Jan 24, 2020 11:18 am PT | Updated Jan 24, 2020 11:27 am PT
As of Friday morning, two cases of coronavirus 2019-nCoV​ ​have been confirmed in the United States.


CALIFORNIA — As health officials around the world respond to the outbreak of the new — and potentially deadly — coronavirus, the California Department of Public Health is doing the same.

As of Friday morning, two cases of coronavirus 2019-nCoV have been confirmed in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control reported. The first case was confirmed Tuesday in the state of Washington. A second case was reported Friday in Illinois. In both, the patients had been to Wuhan, China, according to the CDC.

In California, health screenings of incoming passengers at Los Angeles International and San Francisco International airports are underway to identify people who have symptoms that could be due to coronavirus infection. The two large airports have the most arrivals into the state from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China — the region where an outbreak of the respiratory illness began last month and "continues to expand in scope and magnitude," according to the CDC.

Los Angeles International and San Francisco International are the only California airports where coronavirus screenings are underway, a CDPH spokesman told Patch Friday morning.

Worldwide, there are more than 830 confirmed cases of infection, and at least 26 people have died. A total of 8,420 people are reported to be under observation, according to a report Friday from the Washington Post.

A traveler landing at Los Angeles International Airport was hospitalized this week after exhibiting symptoms consistent with coronavirus, Patch reported Thursday. However, as of Friday morning the CDPH told Patch it had no coronavirus cases to report in California, but screenings and tests are continuing.

Additionally, in Alameda County, which is near San Francisco International Airport, Patch reported that while health officials continue screening people, there were no confirmed coronavirus cases in that county.

"The state will continue to monitor the situation, work with partners to identify any possible cases, provide information and consultation to ensure that possible cases are managed safely, support laboratory testing, and implement recommendations from the CDC," according to the CDPH.

While originally thought to be spreading from animal-to-person, there are growing indications that limited person-to-person spread of the virus is happening. "It's unclear how easily this virus is spreading between people," the CDC reported. The agency is recommending that people avoid all nonessential travel to Wuhan, China. Chinese officials have closed transport within and out of Wuhan, including buses, subways, trains, and the international airport.

Information for travelers to other parts of China is available at wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/china.

For more on coronavirus, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html