Southern Nevada man positive for coronavirus in serious condition
A Clark County resident who tested positive for COVID-19 remains in serious condition, the Southern Nevada Health District said Friday afternoon.
The resident, who is the first and only person in Southern Nevada to test positive for the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus from China, is in isolation at the VA Medical Center in North Las Vegas, a hospital spokesman confirmed on Thursday.
The patient’s test results are considered “presumptive positive” until the result is confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the health district said in a statement. The resident tested positive Wednesday night for the illness.
“People identified as close contacts of the case reported in a Clark County resident are being identified as part of the health district investigation,” the district said in a statement. “These people are asked to ‘self-quarantine’ for a 14-day period. Potential close contacts include people who share a household, health care providers, or people who were within six feet of the individual for a prolonged period of time.”
In a statement responding to a question from the Review-Journal, health district spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore declined to say whether the patient’s child was being tested for the virus.
“We would not provide specific information about who is or isn’t being tested,” she said. The resident had recently traveled to Washington state, where person-to-person spread of the disease has been reported, and Texas, which recently reported its first case of the virus.
“The individual was not experiencing symptoms while they were traveling, and people in airports or who had limited interactions are not considered close contacts or at high risk,” the health district stated.
“People who had contact with an asymptomatic close contact of a case are not considered at high risk for COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, the health district said that it was “aware of a recent report of a COVID-19 case in a Toronto resident with a recent travel history that includes Las Vegas.
“There are no reports that this individual developed his infection during his travels. Public health officials in Nevada are gathering more information about this case,” the statement said. “As of Friday, Toronto Public Health was reporting 14 positive cases of COVID-19 in Toronto.”
Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.