Containing the outbreak
U.S. officials are working to contain the outbreak from spreading in the country, including by increasing travel warnings and expanding screening at 20 U.S. airports. Trump administration officials have said they are constantly evaluating the situation and could take more drastic action if needed.
Health officials said Thursday that they still don’t know whether the virus is infectious before symptoms. Officials are working with hospitals to make sure health-care providers are “protected,” Messonnier said.
“Despite the case that we are reporting the first instance of person-to-person transmission in the United States, it is important to note that these two individuals were in close contact,” she added.
Emergency WHO meeting
The World Health Organization is reconvening an emergency meeting Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET where the organization will decide whether the new virus constitutes a global health emergency.
The coronavirus has spread to a handful of people through human-to-human contact outside of China, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, said at a news conference at the organization’s Geneva headquarters Wednesday.
“These developments in terms of the evolution of the outbreak and further development of transmission, these are of grave concern and has spurred countries into action,” Ryan said. “What we know at this stage, this is still obviously a very active outbreak and information is being updated and changing by the hour.”
‘Deeply disturbing’
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the “continued increase in cases and the evidence of human-to-human transmission outside of China are, of course, most deeply disturbing.” The illness produces a range of symptoms, with about 20% of the patients developing severe illnesses, including pneumonia and respiratory failure, he said.
“Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak,” Tedros said.
US flight
CDC officials said Wednesday that a flight carrying U.S. citizens who evacuated from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, safely arrived in California. Officials said all passengers were asked to remain at the March Air Reserve Base for further CDC screening and testing.
As of Wednesday, the CDC was monitoring 165 people across 36 states for the virus, including five patients who contracted the deadly infection in China and brought it back to the U.S. and one of the spouses. At least 68 people have tested negative for the virus, and the CDC is awaiting results for 92 individuals. World health officials say the respiratory disease spreads through human-to-human contact, droplets carried through sneezing and coughing and germs left on inanimate objects.
