As of Jan. 28, there are 4,609 confirmed cases and 106 deaths related to the 2019-nCoV coronavirus, a respiratory infection originating in central China.
Six updates:
1. The CDC has confirmed five U.S. coronavirus cases in Arizona, California (2), Illinois and Washington as of Jan. 27. Thirty-two tests have come back negative for coronavirus, while 73 are pending. Investigations of potential cases are being conducted in 26 states.
2. 106 total deaths have been reported, all in China, as of 12:30 p.m., Jan. 28. Seventy-nine patients sickened by coronavirus have recovered.
3. U.S. citizens are urged to avoid all nonessential travel to China. The U.S. State Department issued a level 4 travel warning for the Hubei province Jan. 27, and the CDC issued a level 3 travel warning, its highest alert level.
4. Three patients with coronavirus never visited China, Paul Hunter, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School in the U.K., told The Guardian. This backs the theory that the disease is spread via human transmission.
5. Everyone is now legally required to wear face masks in South China, according to The Guardian.
6. HHS Secretary Alex Azar held a press conference Jan. 28 advising providers to ask patients exhibiting respiratory symptoms if they traveled to China.
CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, also spoke, identifying 18 international locations with confirmed coronavirus cases. He said the CDC will now screen travelers at 20 U.S. airports, but added that the immediate risk in the U.S. is low.
The CDC is also conducting national contact investigations, tracing anyone in direct contact with the virus, according to Nancy Messonnier, MD, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She said there is no evidence of human to human transmission in the U.S.
Officials said antiviral drugs and a preventative vaccine are being developed, but that could take months.