March 7 coronavirus news

At least 26 US states have now either confirmed or presumptive confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, after Nebraska announced its first case Friday.

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts said in a news release that the first presumptive positive case of the virus had been reported to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). 

The patient is a woman in her 30s from Nebraska's Douglas county who recently returned from the UK at the end of February. 

She started experiencing symptoms and was hospitalized at Methodist Hospital on March 5. After public health officials received notification that she could possibly have the virus on Thursday, they immediately ordered testing for the virus, which came back positive.

Currently, she is being transferred from the progressive care unit at Methodist Hospital to the Biocontainment Unit at Nebraska Medicine / the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC).  

Two people who recently returned from overseas trips have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Colorado, bringing the total of positive or presumptive positive cases in the state to eight.

Authorities in Douglas County reported today that an adult who returned from a trip to Italy and a student who returned from a trip to the Philippines had both tested positive.

Separately, Colorado's Eagle County Public Health Department announced its first presumptive positive case. 

The patient is a woman in her 50s visiting the area and likely exposed during international travel. She is not hospitalized and is recovering in isolation.  

Kentucky’s governor has confirmed the state’s first case of coronavirus this afternoon.

Gov. Andy Beshear said the patient is in the city of Lexington and they are being treated in isolation. Beshear has filed a state of emergency and activated the state’s emergency operations center.  

Passengers aboard the Grand Princess cruise off the coast of California learned that 21 people on the ship tested positive for the novel coronavirus by watching Vice President Mike Pence’s announcement this afternoon.

In an audio address aboard the cruise after Pence’s news conference, the ship’s captain apologized to passengers over the loudspeaker.

The captain went on to say the individuals will be notified of the test results by the ship doctor as soon as possible. This includes two guests and 19 crew members.

Health authorities in Argentina announced six new cases of novel coronavirus on Friday, according to a news release from the government of Argentina.

This brings the country’s total number of cases to eight.

According to the statement, all six new cases had traveled to different European countries. Those diagnosed with the virus are two women and four men between the ages of 57 and 72.

There are 282 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local governments. 

According to the CDC there are 49 cases from repatriated citizens. According to CNN Health’s tally of US cases that are detected and tested in the United States through US public health systems, there are 233 cases in 23 states, bringing the total of coronavirus cases to 226.

This includes presumptive positive cases that tested positive in a public health lab and are pending confirmation from the CDC, and confirmed cases that have received positive results from the CDC.

A sixth person who was previously aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship that voyaged last month from San Francisco to Mexico is confirmed to have been infected with novel coronavirus. 

The person, who did not feel well upon arriving home from the cruise, is a resident of Ventura County in Southern California, according to Ventura County Public Health. The patient has since remained at home with mild symptoms, according to county officials, only leaving to receive medical treatment. 

The patient’s spouse, who also remains under home quarantine, was also on the cruise but does not have symptoms.

Some context: The California Department of Public Health notified Ventura County on March 4 that six of their residents had traveled on the cruise.  The county has contacted the four remaining passengers, one of whom is symptomatic and being tested at this time. The remaining three have no symptoms.

This latest infection brings the total number of confirmed cases in California to 56.

EvergreenHeath announced that its 12th novel coronavirus patient has died at its hospital in Kirkland, Washington.

This raises the coronavirus death toll in Washington state to 14, including two past coronavirus fatalities reported at other locations in Washington.

Amid a coronavirus outbreak in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted new guidance on its website, encouraging older people and people with severe chronic medical conditions to “stay at home as much as possible.”

This advice is on a CDC website that was posted Thursday. 

The CDC says early data suggests older people and people who have severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung, or kidney disease are at higher risk for more serious illness from the novel coronavirus. The CDC says older people are twice as likely to become seriously ill if they become infected with the virus.

Some context: This advice from the CDC comes as two top infectious disease experts with ties to the federal government have advised people over 60 and those with underlying health problems to strongly consider avoiding activities that involve large crowds, such as traveling by airplane, going to movie theaters, attending family events, shopping at crowded malls, and going to religious services. 

A Trump administration official tells CNN that the US Department of Health and Human Services “is in the process of doing targeted outreach to the elderly community and those that have serious underlying health conditions.”