BROOME COUNTY, NY (WIVT-TV) — Two Broome County residents are being monitored and tested for the coronavirus.
The County Health Department officials said that the two adults recently returned from separate travel to China and went to local medical facilities complaining of respiratory illness.
Samples from each patient were collected and sent to the Centers for Disease Control for testing.
The health department officials said that because neither patient was seriously ill, they were sent home, are complying with home isolation and do not pose a risk to the general public.
The health department officials also said that the department will provide an update when results from the testing become available in the next couple of days.
See the full release here:
The Broome County Health Department is monitoring two adults who are being tested for infection by the novel coronavirus that has emerged in China.
To be clear, these are not confirmed cases.
Tests are underway at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, and we anticipate results in the next couple of days.
Both patients recently returned from separate travel in China.
They presented to local medical facilities for evaluation with respiratory symptoms.
The staff at the medical facilities carried out their procedures, maintained proper infection control, contacted the Broome County Health Department, and obtained necessary specimens for laboratory testing.
Those are now in CDC laboratories.
Since neither patient was seriously ill, they were released to their homes under home isolation.
They are being supervised by the Broome County Health Department.
They are complying with the home isolation procedures and present no risk to the general public.
We are fortunate to have a long history of productive collaboration among our entire medical community in the region, on similar local, national, and international outbreaks in the past.
Even before these patients presented, we began meeting to review, and revise as necessary, our community’s plans for this current situation.
We are confident our procedures are robust and effective.
The Broome County Health Department will provide an update on the results of the coronavirus tests once they are available.
Broome County Health Department coronavirus release
NewsChannel 9 spoke with Dr. Stephen Thomas, division chief of the Infectious Disease Division at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
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