This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/02/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-city.html

The article has changed 44 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Coronavirus in New York: Second Possible Case in City Is Identified Coronavirus in New York: 2 More Possible Cases in City Are Identified
(about 1 hour later)
A day after New York City’s health authorities said that a woman hospitalized at Bellevue Hospital Center might have the new coronavirus, the authorities on Sunday announced that a second patient might have the virus.
Samples from both patients — the first is a woman under 40, and the other, whose gender is not known, is described as being older than 60 — are being sent for testing to a laboratory in Atlanta that is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A day after New York City’s health authorities said that a woman was hospitalized with the city’s first suspected case of the new coronavirus, the authorities on Sunday announced that two more patients also might have the virus.
The turnaround time for the results is usually at least 36 hours, but often longer. Samples from all three patients must first be tested at a laboratory in Atlanta that is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine whether any of the patients do in fact have the new coronavirus.
For more than a week, New York City has been bracing for the arrival of the new coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, as isolated cases began to appear elsewhere in the country. The turnaround time for receiving the results is usually at least 36 hours, but often longer. Local health departments are not yet able to test for the new illness themselves.
In both suspected cases in New York, the individuals had recently been in China and came down with flulike symptoms. Both had been tested for influenza and a number of other common illnesses, and those tests came back negative. But based on a number of factors — the type of symptoms; the patients’ recent travel in China; and the exclusion of influenza and some other common illnesses through testing — the New York City health authorities are taking quite seriously the possibility that these patients may have the virus.
For now, the local health authorities lack the ability to test for the new coronavirus. The new virus is believed to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, and it has now spread to at least 23 other countries. More than 17,000 people have been infected — the vast majority in China — and the death toll has passed 360.
The first patient has been described as a woman who was staying alone in a hotel in New York City. She fell ill about two days after arriving in the United States. Late Friday night, she was brought by ambulance to Bellevue Medical Center on Manhattan’s East Side with a fever, cough and runny nose. For the last two weeks, New York City has been bracing for the arrival of the new illness, as isolated cases began appearing elsewhere in the country — first out west, and then in Illinois and Massachusetts.
She was the first patient in New York City to have samples sent to the C.D.C. for testing. The city’s public health authorities announced her case on Saturday evening and had been referring to her as “a patient under investigation.” The authorities have cautioned that she may be found not to have the new virus. The sight of people wearing surgical masks as they rode the subway has grown more common. Children have shown up to school with masks. Lunar New Year celebrations across the city’s Chinatowns have been more sparsely attended than in past years, or in some cases outright canceled.
The second patient, whose case was announced Sunday evening by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is currently at Flushing Hospital Medical Center in Queens. The New York City health authorities have released little information about the three patients. While the authorities have said that each one has recently been in “mainland China,” the authorities have not indicated exactly where in China.
Health authorities in New York City have been reluctant to share much detail about either patient, including exactly where they had been in China. Both have been described only as having recently been in “mainland China.” The first patient has been described as a woman who was staying alone in a hotel in New York City. She fell ill about two days after arriving in the United States. Late Friday night, she was brought by ambulance to Bellevue Medical Center on Manhattan’s East Side. The City’s health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, said the woman’s symptoms included a fever, cough and runny nose.
There are eight confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the United States and more than 14,000 worldwide. The woman was the first patient in New York City to have samples sent to the C.D.C. for testing. The city’s public health authorities announced her case on Saturday evening and have been referring to her as “a patient under investigation.” The authorities have cautioned that she may not have the new virus.
Over the last two weeks, the Health Department in New York City has sought to reassure the public and encourage people to continue with their daily routine. Those who recently traveled from China and even Wuhan were told that there was no need to self-quarantine so long as they felt fine and were symptom-free. On Sunday evening, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced two more possible cases. Both patients are older than 60, the authorities said. One is currently at Flushing Hospital Medical Center, the other is at New York-Presbyterian Queens. Both hospitals are in Flushing, Queens.
However, the federal government recently imposed further restrictions with a new quarantine policy that went into effect at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Over the last two weeks, the New York City’s Health Department has sought to reassure the public and encourage people to continue with their daily routine. Those who recently traveled from Wuhan or elsewhere in China were told that there was no need to self-quarantine so long as they felt fine and were symptom-free.
That policy bars most foreign nationals who have had contact with mainland China in the past 14 days from entering the United States. And American citizens who have been to Hubei province will be taken into mandatory quarantine upon entry into the United States, or directly to a hospital if they are found to be “symptomatic,” Rick Cotton, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said on Sunday. The Port Authority operates Kennedy International, La Guardia and Newark Liberty International Airports. But the federal government has issued new restrictions, including a quarantine policy that went into effect at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.
American citizens who are returning from elsewhere in China will be instructed to self-monitor their health and will be “subject to restrictions on movements outside their homes,” Mr. Cotton said. That policy bars most foreign nationals who have been in mainland China in the past 14 days from entering the United States. American citizens who have been to Hubei province — Wuhan is the capital city in Hubei — will be taken into mandatory quarantine upon entry into the United States, or directly to a hospital if they are found to be “symptomatic,” said Rick Cotton, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Kennedy International, La Guardia and Newark Liberty International Airports.
American citizens who are returning from elsewhere in China will be required to self-monitor their health and “subject to restrictions on movements outside their homes,” Mr. Cotton said.