Coronavirus in the US?

Coronavirus in the US?

As of Feb. 18, there are 29 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the United States. These include 14 people who were stuck on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan and arrived back in the U.S. on Feb. 16 and Feb. 17. Most of the infected passengers were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The rest of the evacuated passengers are under quarantine at military bases in California and Texas.

Other previously-identified cases of coronavirus in the U.S. include 8 cases in California, 2 cases in Illinois, and one case each in Washington, Arizona, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Texas.

Some person-to-person spread of SARS-CoV-2 has been seen in the U.S. among close contacts of people returning from Wuhan, but the virus is not currently spreading in the community here, according to the CDC.  

Newly emerged viruses like SARS-CoV-2 are always of public health concern, according to the CDC. It's unclear how the situation with this virus in the U.S. will unfold, the agency says. Some people, such as health care workers, are at increased risk for exposure to SARS-CoV-2. But for the general American public, the immediate health risk from the virus is low at this time, the CDC says.

Coronavirus quarantine in Wuhan

Wuhan plans to round up those suspected of having the virus to be placed in isolation, in some kind of mass quarantine camps, The New York Times reported. China's Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said that city officials should go door to door to check residents' temperatures and to interview those in contact with infected individuals, the Times reported. 

"Set up a 24-hour duty system. During these wartime conditions, there must be no deserters, or they will be nailed to the pillar of historical shame forever," Sun said, according to the Times.

The Times is reporting a shortage of medical supplies, coronavirus-testing kits and hospital beds due to the lockdown in the city and surrounding area, leading to people walking on foot from hospital to hospital, only to be turned away. 

Who will be quarantined in the US?

Officials announced on Friday (Jan. 31) that the U.S. will be enforcing quarantines on citizens who have traveled to the Hubei Province (where the outbreak originated) in the last 14 days. If U.S. citizens have been to China in the last 14 days, they will be rerouted to one of eleven airports (see above) across the country to be screened for the new coronavirus, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

If passengers who have traveled to China are showing symptoms of the virus (which include a cough, trouble breathing or fever) they will be subject to mandatory quarantines. If passengers who have traveled to China (outside of the Hubei province) show no symptoms after being screened at one of the 11 airports, they will be re-booked to their destinations within the U.S. and asked to self-quarantine at home, according to the DHS.

Other travelers who haven't been to China but are found to be on the same flight of passengers that have been to China might also be rerouted to one of the 11 airports, according to the DHS. What's more, in general "foreign nationals" who have traveled to China in the past 14 days won't be allowed in the U.S.

Hundreds of U.S. citizens who were evacuated from Wuhan are currently under mandatory quarantine at several U.S. military bases. 

Does the coronavirus have an official name?

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On Feb. 11, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the official name of the new disease caused by the novel coronavirus: Corona Virus Disease, abbreviated as COVID-19. "Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatizing. It also gives us a standard format to use for any future coronavirus outbreaks," Ghebreyesus said.

WHO discourages naming new viruses after geographic locations, people, species or classes of animals or foods, according to the organization's Best Practices for the Naming of New Human Infectious Diseases. Rather, WHO encourages use of descriptive terms of a disease, such as "respiratory disease" and "neurologic syndrome," as well as "severe" or "progressive." The organization also says that if a pathogen is known, it should be used as part of the disease's name.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses is tasked with giving the virus an official name. On Feb. 11, the committee said the virus will be known as "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2," or SARS-CoV-2, due to its genetic similarity to the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), according to Science Magazine.