The number of cases of coronavirus in the U.S. has topped 400, as the outbreak spreads quickly and the death toll reaches 19.
On Saturday night, 31 states and the District of Columbia reported at least one confirmed or presumptive positive case, with those cases totaling 372. Including those infected people repatriated from abroad, and those trapped aboard the quarantined cruise ship Grand Princess off San Francisco, the total is at least 442.
Washington state had the most cases with 103, including 16 deaths, followed by New York with 89 cases and California, with 81 cases and one death. Florida, which reports 11 cases, has also seen two fatalities.
In the interior of the country, a number of more sparsely populated states reported their first cases on Saturday, including Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota and Nebraska.
In Nebraska, there were dramatic scenes as a woman who tested positive for the virus was rushed from a community hospital to the nation’s leading biocontainment unit at he University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha.
The 36-year-old Nebraska resident was photographed being transported to the facility in a hi-tech isolation pod late Friday.
A woman who tested positive with the coronavirus is brought to the University of Nebraska Medical Center on Friday. She was transferred from Omaha’s Methodist Hospital in an isolation pod inside an ambulance
The woman, who is the first person in Nebraska to test positive to coronavirus, is ‘very seriously ill’, according to doctors who spoke with Omaha.com Saturday.
A chest CT scan conducted yesterday showed the coronavirus is evolving into acute respiratory distress syndrome (ADRS).
The syndrome, which is characterized by a rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs, is often fatal.
People with ARDS suffer severe shortness of breath and often are unable to breathe on their own without support from a ventilator.
The woman reportedly traveled to England with her father February 18 to February 27. She began to feel ill on February 25, two days before she flew back to the United States.
Doctors say they are still trying to piece together where she went and who she had contact with in the 10 days since she arrived back from overseas.
According to doctors, her symptoms were quite mild until this Thursday, when she arrived at a local emergency room.
The 36-year-old was photographed being transported to the facility in a hi-tech isolation pod late Friday
Home to the nation’s premier bio-containment medical unit, the University of Nebraska Medical Center (above) is also where 13 infected evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship were transported
As her condition took a turn for the worse Friday, a decision was made to move her from Omaha’s Methodist Hospital to the to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit.
Desperate to avoid contagion, the woman was place in an isolation pod, made of heavy duty plastic and complete with a dozen ports for ventilators and other tubes.
Medics donned plastic face shields, rubber gloves and rain boots as they moved her from the ambulance in a stretcher.
The situation in Nebraska comes on a day of fast-moving developments as :
- At least 442 Americans in 30 other states have tested positive for coronavirus
- Two more elderly people died in relation to the illness in Washington state Saturday
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency as cases there skyrocketed to 89
- 21 people on board a cruise ship floating off the coast of San Francisco are infected with the disease
- Stanford University cancelled all classes after a faculty member tested positive for coronavirus
- The NBA warned its stars to prepare to play matches without fans in attendance
- Apple told all 12,000 employees at its headquarters Apple Park to begin working from home on Friday
- City officials in Austin announced that South by Southwest festival is cancelled over virus fears
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‘I’m not urging calm’: New York Governor Cuomo declares state of emergency as coronavirus cases rise to 89 after infected Uber driver walked into a Queens hospital
New York state confirmed 13 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday evening, taking the total number of residents infected to 89.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the latest spike in figures in what has been a shock day for New Yorkers, as the number of cases of the deadly disease more than doubled in the last 24 hours and a state of emergency was declared.
Cases are expected to rise higher still amid fears that 40 doctors, nurses and medical staff in a Queens hospital may have been infected by an Uber driver, after he walked into the hospital and later tested positive for the virus.
Seventy of New York state’s 89 cases are based in Westchester, where a Manhattan attorney was first struck down with the virus earlier this week.
Forty-five new cases have been uncovered since Friday, with the majority related to the New Rochelle lawyer who was diagnosed as New York state’s first case earlier this week.
Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday as coronavirus cases skyrocket across New York
There are seven new cases in New York City – taking the total to 11.
Disturbingly, there are also signs of wider spread, with two cases now confirmed in Saratoga County in the northeast of the state – hundreds of miles away from any other cases.
There are still thousands of New York state residents awaiting the return of coronavirus test results.
By declaring a state of emergency, Cuomo said that he is able to free up $30 million that can be used for testing and the purchase of protective gear for healthcare workers.
‘I’m not urging calm,” Cuomo stated. “I’m urging reality. I’m urging a factual response as opposed to an emotional response… that people understand the information and not the hype.’
He added that, at present, there is no need to cancel large gatherings in any part of the state.
Locals and tourists were taking no precautions as they made their way through bustling Times Square. Governor Cuomo has now declared a state of emergency
Meanwhile, a Queens man who drives for taxi and ride-hailing services including Uber has now tested positive for coronavirus after showing up to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in the borough with flu-like symptoms on Tuesday.
The driver, 33, went home and returned later when his symptoms worsened, officials said.
Tests came back Friday night confirming he had coronavirus.
The situation has prompted 40 doctors, nurses and hospital staff to go into self-quarantine amid fears they have now been exposed. The man is now in isolation at the hospital.
Investigators are now trying to piece together who he might have driven around in a bid to contain a possible spread.
Marine stationed outside DC and Navy sailor posted in southern Italy become latest US service members to test positive for coronavirus
A Marine stationed in northern Virginia has become the first U.S. service member on American soil to test positive for coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
‘A U.S Marine assigned to Fort Belvoir, VA tested positive today for COVID-19 and is currently being treated at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital,’ the Pentagon said in a statement on Saturday.
The Marine had recently returned from overseas where he was on ‘official business’, according to the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Mark Secretary Esper and the White House have been briefed.
Fort Belvoir is the home to numerous significant military organizations, including the Defense Logistics Agency, the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command, and the Military District of Washington’s 12th Aviation Battalion, which provides rotary-wing movement to the DoD and Congress.
A Marine stationed at Fort Belvoir (above) in northern Virginia has become the first U.S. service member on American soil to test positive for coronavirus. Fort Belvoir is the home to numerous significant military organizations
It’s unclear what the infected Marine’s duties involved, but a source said that he did not have direct contact with the nearby Pentagon.
It follows the Navy’s first confirmed coronavirus case and the first of a service member stationed in Europe, after a U.S. sailor deployed to Naples, Italy tested positive.
The sailor stationed at Naval Support Activity Naples in southern Italy tested positive for the virus on Friday, U.S. European Command confirmed in a statement.
‘The member is currently restricted to their residence, receiving supportive and medical care in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control,’ said European Command.
‘Military health professionals are conducting a thorough contact investigation to determine whether any other personnel may have been exposed,’ it said.
The Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Carson City transits the Gulf of Gaeta in the Tyrrhenian Sea on its way to Naval Support Activity Naples in a file photo. A sailor stationed at the facility tested positive for coronavirus
Naples is far outside of the northern Italy ‘red zones’ (seen in the map above) that have been locked down in the outbreak
Personnel that the infected sailor had close contact with have been notified and are in self-isolation at their residence.
Naples is outside of the northern Italy ‘red zones’ that have been hardest hit by the virus, but the outbreak has quickly spread, making Italy Europe’s hardest-hit country so far in the epidemic.
On Saturday, the number of confirmed cases in Italy jumped by more than 1,200, to 5,883, the biggest daily rise since the epidemic began there just over two weeks ago.
Deaths due to the highly infectious virus were up 36 to 233, said the head of Italy’s civil protection agency, Angelo Borrelli.
A soldier stationed in South Korea, which is suffering a major outbreak, was the first US service member to test positive for coronavirus on February 25.
‘I’m not concerned at all’: Donald Trump dismisses fears he was exposed to coronavirus at CPAC after attendee tested positive
President Donald Trump said Saturday night he was not ‘concerned at all’ about how close the coronavirus was coming to the White House.
‘No, I’m not concerned at all,’ the president said when asked about it after an attendee at CPAC was confirmed to have the disease and the first case was detected in Washington D.C. ‘We’ve done a great job.’
And he said his campaign rallies, which include thousands of attendees, will continue even as other major gatherings – such as SXSW and next week’s AFL-CIO gathering for the Democratic presidential contenders – have been canceled.
‘We’ll hold tremendous rallies,’ he’s said in response to a question from DailyMail.com at Mar-a-Lago during a meeting with the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
President Donald Trump said Saturday night he was not ‘concerned at all’ about how close the coronavirus was coming to the White House as he met with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
President Donald Trump sits next to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago along with National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner
The coronavirus is getting closer to the president and his circle after an attendee at the 2020 Conservative Political Action Conference tested positive for the disease.
The American Conservative Union announced that one person at the event last month where President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence made speeches was diagnosed with the deadly virus.
The announcement came as two more people succumbed to the disease in Washington state, officials there said on Saturday, bringing the nationwide toll to 19 deaths.
The ACU insisted the patient had no contact with either Trump or Pence at the conservative gathering in National Harbor, Maryland.
In a statement they said: ‘The American Conservative Union has learned that one of our CPAC attendees has unfortunately tested positive today for coronavirus. The exposure occurred previous to the conference.
‘A New Jersey hospital tested the person, and CDC confirmed the positive result.
‘The individual is under the care of medical professionals in the state of New Jersey, and has been quarantined.’
The attendee did not listen to any speeches in the main hall, the ACU confirmed.