The CDC confirmed another coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in the United States, bringing the total to 15 cases. The patient is among a group of people under a federal quarantine order at JBSA-Lackland in Texas because of their recent return to the U.S. on a State Department-chartered flight.
People who lived or travelled in Hubei Province, China, are considered at high risk of having been exposed to this virus and are subject to a temporary 14-day quarantine upon entry into the United States. This is the first person under quarantine at JBSA-Lackland who had symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19. The individual is currently isolated and receiving medical care at a designated hospital nearby.
There will likely be additional cases in the coming days and weeks, including other people that recently returned from Wuhan. While 195 people were discharged from quarantine on Tuesday, more than 600 people who returned on chartered flights from Wuhan remain under federal quarantine and are being closely monitored to contain the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, at a news conference held on February 13, Michael Ryan, executive director of Health Emergencies Program at the World Health Organization (WHO), said the jump in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Hubei province in China between February 12 and13 (a total of 13,332 new cases) is primarily due to a change in the way China is diagnosing and reporting on confirmed cases.
“In Hubei province only, a trained medical professional can now classify a suspected case of COVID-19 as a clinically confirmed case, based on chest imaging, rather than having to have a lab confirmation,” Ryan explained.
In other news, StraitsTimes reported, that Mr. Zeng Yixin, vice-minister at the National Health Commission, said at a news conference that 1,716 health workers had been infected, and 6 deaths.
The report went on to say that many doctors in Wuhan have had to see patients without proper masks or protective body suits and were reusing the same equipment, amid reports of risks doctors and nurses have taken due to shortages of protective gear.
