President Trump announced new screening procedures Sunday morning, the day after the US recorded its first death from the coronavirus.
In a tweet, Trump said people will be screened upon arriving if they are travelling from a “high-risk country.”
It wasn’t clear which countries will receive the newer level of scrutiny. CNN has asked the White House for more information.
On Saturday, the US recorded its first coronavirus death, adding to a growing list of infections circulating in communities without any clear source of infection.
Of the 86,500 cases confirmed globally, at least 2,976 have been fatal — 2,870 of which were in China. The US has reached 71 confirmed cases of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Several of those cases are believed to have been spread person-to-person with unknown origins, including the patient in Washington state who died, said Dr Robert Redfield, director of the CDC.
The patient was a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions, according to Dr Jeffrey Duchin, health officer for Seattle and King County, Washington.
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Officials warned last week that the virus would begin spreading in US communities.
“We expect we will see community spread in this country,” said Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have a severe illness.”
But US officials have urged Americans not to panic.
“It’s important to remember,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, “for the vast majority of individuals who contract the novel coronavirus, they will experience mild to moderate symptoms, and their treatment will be to remain at home, treating their symptoms, the way they would a severe cold, or the flu.”
71 US cases
There are 71 confirmed or presumptive positive cases in the US. They include 44 people who were aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, three people repatriated from China and 24 cases that occurred in the US, according to the CDC.
Presumptive positives mean tests in state or local labs came back positive but have not yet been confirmed by the CDC.
Thirteen cases in the US are travel-related and 10 are linked to person-to-person spread, according to the CDC. Several are of unknown origin including:
- A woman in Washington County, Oregon, who is presumptive positive. She is in isolation.
- A high school boy in Snohomish County, Washington, who is presumptive positive. He’s doing well, local health officials said.
(CNN)
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