The CDC confirmed the first U.S. COVID-19 case of unknown origin Feb. 26, though the agency declined testing for the infected patient for four days, USA Today and The Hill report.
As of 10 a.m., Feb. 27, COVID-19 has sickened 82,549 and resulted in 2,810 deaths. Globally, 33,252 people have recovered from the illness.
Key updates:
1. The CDC confirmed the first U.S. COVID-19 case of unknown origin in Northern California, according to The Sacramento Bee. The patient contracted the virus without visiting a foreign country recently or coming into contact with an infected patient.
"It's possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States," the CDC said in a statement cited by USA Today. "It's also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.''
2. The CDC initially declined to test the California patient for COVID-19 because of narrow testing criteria, according to officials at Sacramento-based UC Davis Medical Center, where the patient is being treated, The Hill reports. After the patient was transferred from another hospital Feb. 19 with a suspected viral infection, UC Davis requested COVID-19 testing, but the CDC declined because the patient hadn't recently traveled to countries with outbreaks or been in contact with an infected individual. The CDC finally tested for COVID-19 Feb. 23, and the results came back positive Feb. 26.
The Hill was unable to reach the CDC for immediate comment.
3. There are 60 total COVID-19 cases in the U.S., as of Feb. 26. Fifteen of the cases were detected in the U.S., with 12 related to travel, two from direct contact with an infected patient and one from an unknown source. Another 42 American evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive for the disease, and three Americans were sickened while in Wuhan, China.
4. Mount Sinai physicians, the first in the nation to analyze CT scans of COVID-19 patients, have identified specific lung patterns as markers of the disease as it develops, according to a study published Feb. 26 in Radiology. New York City-based Mount Sinai analyzed CT scans from 94 patients admitted to hospitals in China between Jan. 18 and Feb. 2. Of the 36 patients scanned zero to two days after reporting symptoms, over half showed no signs of lung disease, suggesting that CT scans cannot reliably rule out COVID-19 early in the disease course. Lungs of 33 patients scanned three to five days after symptoms developed started to show patterns of haziness, becoming more round and dense. Six to 12 days after symptoms, the 25 patients scanned showed fully involved lung disease. This pattern is similar to those found in SARS and MERS outbreaks.
5. Vice President Mike Pence will head the administration's coronavirus response, President Donald Trump announced Feb. 26, according to USA Today.
"Because of all we've done, the risk to the American people remains very low,'' Mr. Trump said.
The CDC confirmed the first U.S. COVID-19 case of unknown origin in Northern California, according to The Sacramento Bee. The patient contracted the virus without visiting a foreign country recently or coming into contact with an infected patient.
"It's possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States," the CDC said in a statement cited by USA Today. "It's also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.''
The CDC initially declined to test the California patient for COVID-19 because of narrow testing criteria, according to officials at Sacramento-based UC Davis Medical Center, where the patient is being treated, The Hill reports. After the patient was transferred from another hospital Feb. 19 with a suspected viral infection, UC Davis requested COVID-19 testing, but the CDC declined because the patient hadn't recently traveled to countries with outbreaks or been in contact with an infected individual. The CDC finally tested for COVID-19 Feb. 23, and the results came back positive Feb. 26.
The Hill was unable to reach the CDC for immediate comment.
There are 60 total COVID-19 cases in the U.S., as of 9 a.m., Feb. 27. Fifteen of the cases were detected in the U.S., with 12 related to travel, two from direct contact with an infected patient and one from an unknown source. Another 42 American evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive for the disease, and three Americans were sickened while in Wuhan, China.
Mount Sinai physicians, the first in the nation to analyze CT scans of COVID-19 patients, have identified specific lung patterns as markers of the disease as it develops, according to a study published Feb. 26 in Radiology. New York City-based Mount Sinai analyzed CT scans from 94 patients admitted to hospitals in China between Jan. 18 and Feb. 2. Of the 36 patients scanned zero to two days after reporting symptoms, over half showed no signs of lung disease, suggesting that CT scans cannot reliably rule out COVID-19 early in the disease course. Lungs of 33 patients scanned three to five days after symptoms developed started to show patterns of haziness, becoming more round and dense. Six to 12 days after symptoms, the 25 patients scanned showed fully involved lung disease. This pattern is similar to those found in SARS and MERS outbreaks.
Vice President Mike Pence will head the administration's coronavirus response, President Donald Trump announced Feb. 26, according to USA Today.
"Because of all we've done, the risk to the American people remains very low,'' Mr. Trump said.