Health & Medicine
Sacramento County reports first case of coronavirus in resident who visited China
Sacramento County reported its first case of novel coronavirus in a traveler who had gone to China, bringing the number of cases in the United States to 17. Rural Humboldt County had reported on Thursday that it had a case on Thursday.
The individual returned to the United States from China on Feb. 2, Sacramento County officials said, and the individual took precautionary measures during travel and has self-quarantined since returning. The individual has so far shown no symptoms, health officials said.
“Cases in the U.S., including this first case in Sacramento County, have primarily been travel-related,” said Dr. Peter Beilenson, Sacramento County Department of Health Services Director. “The risk of COVID-19 to the U.S. public continues to be low. Sacramento County health providers are continuing to be vigilant, monitoring for acute respiratory illness, and gathering recent travel information to detect any new COVID-19 cases.”
Another individual diagnosed in Humboldt County is doing well, said the health officer there, Dr. Teresa Frankovich, and has self-isolated at home along with a close contact who also had traveled to China. The second individual is being tested for the respiratory illness that has killed more than 2200 people in China. More than 76,700 cases of the illness have been confirmed worldwide, only 634 of which have been outside China.
In a Humboldt news release, officials said that it was not surprising a case had emerged there given that many county residents travel overseas, including to China. Officials also noted that other cases may occur in the county among travelers and their close contact. Humboldt’s population numbered 136,754 in a 2017 census bureau report.
There have been a number of conspiracy theories and rumors as it relates to the new coronavirus. People have emailed The Bee with tips about local coronavirus cases, but none has been confirmed. And, an Oroville resident recently emailed a link to a YouTube video posted by someone telling residents that a case of coronavirus was being covered up in Butte County.
The individual talking on the video never shows his face on camera and provides no proof of his claim,but he ends by urging residents to come to Jesus if they wanted to be saved.
Lisa Almaguer, the communications manager for the Butte County Public Health Department, said there are no confirmed cases and no suspected cases in Butte County.
“We have zero returning travelers under investigation,” she said. “People are rightly concerned, but they should maintain getting their information from official sources. This person that posted the video certainly hasn’t reached out to the health department with concerns.”
The only cases of COVID-19 in the United States have been among travelers who have returned from overseas and their close contacts. The illness causes shortness of breath, fever and coughing.
This new coronavirus, a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses, originated in bats and spilled over into the human population. Researchers do not know where or when the virus first infected a human subject, but multiple cases of COVID-19 were reported among people who visited a market in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is reporting 16 cases of the illness in the United States, but that doesn’t count those infected with the illness.
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