Clark County patient tests negative for coronavirus, health district says
A Clark County resident has tested negative for a new coronavirus that has spread from China around the globe, the Southern Nevada Health District announced Sunday.
The health district said it had received notice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted the testing, that the resident was negative for the virus, which has infected 14,000 people worldwide and killed more than 300. Most of the people who have become ill, and all but one of the deaths, have been in China. There have been nine confirmed cases in the U.S.
The Health District said Wednesday that a possible case had been found in a Clark County resident who returned last month from a trip to the city of Wuhan in China, believed to be the epicenter of the virus outbreak. Specimens from the patient, who was quarantined first in an undisclosed hospital and then at home, were sent for testing to the CDC.
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“The health district worked closely with local and state health care partners and the CDC to investigate this case,” Dr. Fermin Leguen, the district’s acting chief health, said in a news release. “We appreciate the cooperation and assistance we received.”
This was the only possible case of the new coronavirus identified so far in Nevada, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services stated last week.
“Southern Nevada residents who have not traveled to areas in China where the virus is circulating or have had close contact with a patient who has tested positive for the virus are at low risk for infection,” the Health District stated in its news release.
“People who traveled to China and feel sick with fever, cough or difficulty breathing within 14 days after they have returned should contract their health care provider,” the district stated.
So far, about 5 percent of possible cases of the virus in the U.S. have been determined through testing by the CDC to be actual cases. Testing has been limited to cases that meet CDC criteria, such as recent travel to Wuhan and upper respiratory symptoms or symptoms along with close contact with a confirmed case.
The virus has proven to be fatal in about 2.2 percent of people with confirmed cases.
Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.