You’ve probably been flooded with information on social media about a new coronavirus that’s emerged from the central Chinese city of Wuhan. To cut through all the noise, KALW has a local update.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there have been no confirmed cases of anyone in the Bay Area catching the virus, according to public health officials.
So far, just two people in California have been diagnosed, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. That’s out of a total of five people in the entire United States.
But in China, the fast-moving outbreak has left more than 100 people dead and almost 6,000 people sick. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is investigating potential cases in 26 states in the United States.
Health officials in San Francisco opened an emergency operations center on Monday to respond to any cases. But mostly, officials are focusing on people who’ve returned from China within the past 14 days.
Dr Sara Cody, Santa Clara County’s Health Officer, said the county is concerned about travelers and not the Chinese population.
So if you have returned from China and are exhibiting any symptoms, call your health provider -- don’t go straight to see them, she advised.
Symptoms include, running a fever, having a cough and having shortness of breath.
This story has been updated to reflect more current numbers as of Wednesday, January 29, 2020. For more updates on numbers, visit the CDC's website.
