Gov. Cuomo confirmed on Sunday New York State’s first case of the coronavirus, saying that the woman contracted the virus while traveling in Iran.
“The patient has respiratory symptoms, but is not in serious condition and has been in a controlled situation since arriving to New York,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. The 39-year-old-woman is isolated in her home in Manhattan. The governor explained that she was a health-care worker so “she knew to take precautions and stay in a controlled situation.” At least one other person in New York is being tested for the disease, also after a visit to Iran. In an interview with CNN, Cuomo said he anticipated that “there will be community spread” but that “there’s no reason for concern.”
Two people died in Washington State and it is believed that undetected cases were spreading the virus for weeks. At least three other cases of coronavirus cases were confirmed in Kirkland county, following testing at EvergreenHealth hospital. A resident and a worker at a nursing facility in Kirkland were also diagnosed. Two other patients who were in critical condition at hospitals in Renton and Seattle tested positive for the coronavirus.
California on Wednesday reported its first death from the virus bringing the U.S. death toll to 12. More than 225 cases have been confirmed across the country. The cases identified over the weekend were in Washington, California, Illinois, Rhode Island, New York, Florida and Oregon, and included a mix of people who had traveled to high-risk countries and those who were believed to have contracted the disease domestically.
The disease originated in Wuhan province in China three months ago and more than 95,000 people have been infected globally. More than 3,281 have died. New hubs of transmission have emerged in Italy, South Korea, and Iran.
World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus issued a statement on Thursday, urging governments to take strong measures against the spread of the pandemic.
“We are concerned that some countries have either not taken this seriously enough, or have decided there is nothing they can do,” Ghebreyesus said. “This is not a drill, this is not a time to give up, this is not a time for excuses, this is a time for pulling out all the stops.”
The Senate on Thursday passed an $8.3 billion measure for emergency funding to help address the outbreak. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.
