COLD AND FLU
American Dies From Coronavirus in Wuhan; Death Toll Surges Over 700
Workers Deliver Medical Supplies to Wuhan Hospital
Workers in protective suits ride on a truck carrying medical supplies into Huoshenshan temporary hospital built for patients who were diagnosed with coronavirus in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020.
(Chinatopix via AP)
At a Glance
- A 60-year-old woman became the first American death to be reported in Wuhan.
- The death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 700, with 86 deaths in one day alone.
- Planes carrying about 300 Americans landed in Texas and California Friday.
- A vaccine won't likely be ready until next year, officials said.
A U.S. citizen in Wuhan, China, has died from novel coronavirus, the first American known to have died from the infection that has now killed more than 700 people, nearly all of them in China.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said the American was around 60 years old and died at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan. The victim was a woman and had other health problems, according to the New York Times
“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” the embassy said in a statement. “Out of the respect for the family’s privacy, we have no further comment.”
The 86 deaths reported Saturday marked the virus' largest daily jump, according to the Washington Post, putting the overall number of fatalities at 723, while more than 34,000 people have been infected.
Chinese health officials are calling the disease novel coronavirus pneumonia, or NCP, the Post reported.
(MORE: 'Floating Prison': More than 7,300 People Quarantined on Cruise Ships)
Meanwhile, two more evacuation flights carrying hundreds of Americans fleeing the novel coronavirus outbreak in China landed in California and Texas Friday, the AP reported. Like previous evacuees, they will be quarantined on military bases for 14 days.
'Our top priority is keeping the risk to the American public low, and we're working on all fronts to do that,' Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters, according to CBS News.
A CDC spokesman said a handful of the Americans recently evacuated have signs of fever and are being tested and treated at Travis Air Force Base in California, the post reported. All returning Americans are being held in 14-day quarantine as soon as they land.
The planes, carrying a total of about 300 passengers, landed at military bases in San Diego and San Antonio. In all, more than 800 Americans have been brought back on the chartered flights.
Another flight was expected to land Friday in Omaha.
The flights are the latest to be chartered by the U.S. State Department to ferry Americans out of Wuhan, the central China city at the epicenter of the global health crisis.
Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control's division of high consequence pathogens and pathology said the plane bound for Texas would stop at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, where evacuees from previous flights are already being quarantined. Anyone showing symptoms of the virus would remain at Travis, McQuiston said.
The Defense Department has approved plans to potentially quarantine U.S. travelers at 11 other military bases, according to the Washington Post.
By the Numbers
Nearly all the cases of the virus so far have been reported in China, with more than 300 confirmed in other countries. The total number of cases in the U.S. remained at 12 Saturday, not including an several American passengers infected on a cruise ship currently quarantined in Japan.
More than 330 potential cases of coronavirus have been investigated in the U.S. since Jan. 21, according to the CDC. Of those, 12 tested positive, 225 were negative and 100 were still pending.
Latest Developments
-A Japanese man in Wuhan died from the virus, according to the Times.
-Experts in the U.S. working on a vaccine say it could be up to a year until one is ready.
-Royal Caribbean and Norwegian cruise lines announced new restrictions on passengers from China, Hong Kong and Macau.
-The Chinese government's ruling Communist Party has promised to investigate the reported silencing of doctor Li Wenliang, CBS news reported. The doctor who began warning of a potential 'SARS-like' disease in December 2019 died Thursday of coronavirus in Wuhan, CNN reported. Li Wenliang was summoned by Wuhan police to sign a reprimand letter in which he was accused of 'spreading rumors online' and 'severely disrupting social order.' He had been hospitalized since Jan. 12 after contracting the virus from a patient.
-Two newborns in Wuhan have been confirmed to have the coronavirus, one just 30 hours after birth, CNN reported. Zeng Lingkong, the director of neonatal diseases at Wuhan Children’s Hospital, told China's state broadcaster CCTV, other infected mothers have given birth to babies who tested negative, so it's not yet known if the virus can be transmitted in the womb.
-A textile convention scheduled for next week in Portland, Oregon is being rescheduled, the AP reported. Organizers of the Materials Show, which connect textile suppliers with clothing and shoe companies, said they were forced to postpone because many of the suppliers are based in China.
A medical worker in a protective suit collects a sample for nucleic acid tests from a suspected virus patient at a hotel being used to place people in medical isolation in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely, as a new virus caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory and authorities feared it was spreading locally. (Chinatopix via AP)
Collecting a sample
A medical worker in a protective suit collects a sample for nucleic acid tests from a suspected virus patient at a hotel being used to place people in medical isolation in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely, as a new virus caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory and authorities feared it was spreading locally.
(Chinatopix via AP)
U.S. Cases
A total of 12 cases of the new coronavirus have been confirmed in the U.S.
A Wisconsin resident who returned from a trip to Beijing, China, last week has been confirmed to have been sickened with the coronavirus, AP reported. As soon as the person landed on Jan. 30 in Madison, they went straight to the University of Wisconsin Hospital emergency room to be tested.
People who were on the same flights with the person are being identified and contacted by their local health departments, Amanda Kita Yarborough, an epidemiologist with the Madison Dane County Health Department, told AP.
Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said 'we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic.' (Chinatopix via AP)
AP20035178690638.jpg
Workers arrange beds in a convention center that has been converted into a temporary hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. China said Tuesday the number of infections from a new virus surpassed 20,000 as medical workers and patients arrived at a new hospital and President Xi Jinping said 'we have launched a people's war of prevention of the epidemic.'
(Chinatopix via AP)
U.S. Response
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is requiring that all flights from China and all passengers who have traveled to China within the last 14 days to be routed through one of 11 U.S. airports. The airports have been equipped to screen passengers and quarantine them if necessary, according to a DHS news release.
Four United States military bases said they were expecting to house about 1,000 people.
In addition, U.S. citizens who have been in Hubei province within 14 days of their return will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine. Citizens who have been in other areas of mainland China within 14 days of their return will undergo health screening and up to 14 days of self-quarantine.
Generally, foreign nationals (other than immediate family of U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and flight crew) who have traveled in China within 14 days of their arrival, will be denied entry into the United States.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a 'handful' of official flights will be made to Hubei province in the coming days to pick up Americans who remain there, AP reported. He said citizens of other countries may be flown out as well.
A nurse checks the temperature of a visitor as part of the coronavirus screening procedure at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. More than 100 Malaysians have been quarantined after being evacuated from the Chinese city at the center of a viral outbreak. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
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A nurse checks the temperature of a visitor as part of the coronavirus screening procedure at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. More than 100 Malaysians have been quarantined after being evacuated from the Chinese city at the center of a viral outbreak. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
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The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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