Alameda County, California Monitored for Possible Wuhan Coronavirus [MAP]

An unknown number of people are being monitored in Alameda County, California for possible cases of the Wuhan (Novel) coronavirus. They are not diagnosed or confirmed, but are awaiting test results. Read on for more details and see a map of where Alameda County, California is located.

Several People Are Awaiting Test Results & Have Not Been Diagnosed with the Virus

Several people in Alameda County are being tested for the possible Wuhan coronavirus, known as the Novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV. These people had been in the Wuhan region, where the virus originated, and now are experiencing symptoms, Patch.com reported. Some being tested had been in contact with others who had the virus.

Here is a map of Alameda County.

These people are awaiting test results from the CDC and no cases in Alameda County have been confirmed. Symptoms can be from mild to severe and can take two to 14 days from exposure to appear. The number of people being tested has not been released. CBS San Francisco reported that “several” were being tested and there had been no positive results to this point. ABC 7 reported that “less than 10” were being investigated. Dr. Erica Pan told ABC 7: “When we say we’re investigating less than 10 people, that’s moving all the time because sometimes we get a report, we investigate and decide that’s not even somebody we’re concerned about.”

Another person is being monitored in Los Angeles for the virus, Patch.com reported. This person was flying from Mexico and had landed at Los Angeles International Airport. They had flown on American Airlines Flight 2546 from Mexico City. They had symptoms and were hospitalized as a precaution, but it’s not yet known if the case is confirmed or if it is something else.

At Least 875 People Are Infected & 26 Have Died Worldwide, Mostly in China

With more than 800 people infected across the world and 26 deaths, experts are taking the Wuhan coronavirus (often referred to as the novel coronavirus) seriously, Time reported.

Officially, 875 cases have been reported in China, The Hollywood Reporter shared, including 26 deaths. All the deaths have been in China, and all of China’s provinces except two have reported cases.

China has now locked down 13 cities, Time reported.

One case has been confirmed in the United States, from a person who traveled from Wuhan to Washington state. A second case has been confirmed in Chicago, Illinois. The woman in chicago is in her 60s and had traveled to Wuhan in late December. She returned to the U.S. on January 13, Business Insider reported. She started experiencing symptoms a few days after traveling and was admitted to a hospital, where she’s stable and in isolation. She “is doing well,” the CDC has said. The CDC said she had only “limited close contacts.” All those are being monitored.

Other cases were in the the Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand.

France has also just confirmed two cases.

This likely has no relation to the woman from China who bragged about avoiding health checks while having a fever and flying to France to eat at a fancy restaurant. Telegraph reported that the woman flew with a fever, but her symptoms have no subsided and French medical services said she did not need to be examined.

WHO Says All the Deaths Have Been in China

On January 23, WHO (the World Health Organization) said in a press conference that it was too soon to declare a public health emergency given the virus’s “restrictive and binary nature.” They noted: “Make no mistake. This is an emergency in #China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency. WHO’s risk assessment is that the outbreak is a very high risk in China, and a high risk regionally and globally.” 

WHO also noted that the virus can kill, but it causes milder symptoms in most people. Most people who died had underlying health conditions that weakened their immune systems. Human-to-human transmission, for now, “appears limited to family groups & #healthworkers caring for infected patients. At this time, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission outside China, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

Symptoms

The coronavirus is a family of viruses that come in many forms, including the common cold. But sometimes it can include a more severe illness like SARS. The Wuhan coronavirus is a new form of the virus, first identified at a food market in Wuhan, China. It’s now being referred to as the noval coronavirus by experts.

Symptoms can include a fever, cough, and trouble breathing. It can get more severe if the disease worsens. It can spread from animals to people, but China has also said there have been at least two cases of human-to-human transmission, Forbes reported. If so, it could be transmitted through coughing, sneezing, or close contact, like other coronaviruses. So far there is no vaccine.