2nd coronavirus case confirmed in US as State Department warns against traveling to China

ABC News

[MGN]

A second U.S. case of the new coronavirus has been confirmed in a patient in Chicago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The patient, a woman in her 60s and a Chicago resident, had traveled to Wuhan, China, in December. She was admitted to the hospital and is in stable condition, according to Illinois health officials.

"We understand that some people are worried about this virus and how it may impact Americans," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases said at a Friday news briefing.

"The immediate risk to the U.S. public is low at this time," Messonnier said.

Sixty-three people in the U.S. are being evaluated to determine if they have coronavirus. Of those individuals, 11 have tested negative and two have tested positive for the virus. Patient samples are currently being tested at the CDC in Atlanta, and health officials are working to get those tests to states, which would speed diagnosis times.

This announcement comes as the U.S. State Department is warning Americans not to enter China's Hubei province due to the coronavirus, as Chinese authorities announced Thursday that the death toll from the virus has increased to 25.

The U.S. is also pulling out most of its diplomats and their families from the consulate general in Wuhan, the Hubei city of 11 million where cases of the new virus were first discovered.

The State Department issued a new travel advisory late Thursday, declaring the Hubei region Level 4, Do Not Travel, the strongest of the four travel warning levels issued by the U.S. government. That puts it on par with hot spots and war zones like North Korea, Syria, and Iran.

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China's National Health Commission announced Thursday that the death toll from the virus has increased to 25 from the previously-reported total of 17.

The additional eight deaths included China's first death outside the central Hubei province, where an 80-year-old man died in the northern province of Hebei after returning there following a two-month stay in Wuhan, according to The Associated Press.

The health agency said that in addition to the eight new deaths, 259 new confirmed cases had been reported in 27 provinces across China, with six new cases cured and discharged.

In response to the virus, officials at Shanghai Disneyland said that the giant theme park would close until further notice "in order to ensure the health and safety of our guests." The move comes during one of the park's busiest weeks of the year.

The park, located in Pudong, Shanghai, is about a two-hour flight from Wuhan.

The U.S. State Department says China itself remains on travel advisory Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, because of arbitrary detentions and law enforcement concerns, including the so-called exit bans where U.S. citizens are prevented from leaving the country, often for the government to gain leverage over relatives that it is after.

A senior State Department official said the U.S. had seen "positive signs" in China's response to stem the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, but added that China has lacked transparency in the past and has shown it can be more preoccupied with saving face publicly than admitting and treating the problem.

"We're concerned, but cautiously optimistic," the official said.

U.S. health officials reported the first U.S. case of the coronavirus on Tuesday, when it was diagnosed in a Washington state man in his 30s who had recently traveled to Wuhan.

A total of 830 cases of the coronavirus have been reported to date in China. In addition, China's National Health Commission reports that three cases have been reported in Thailand, two have been reported in Vietnam, and one case apiece has been reported in Japan, Singapore and South Korea.