The US CDC announced on Friday that confirmed US cases of Coronavirus now stand at 34. Of the 34 cases, 21 are from repatriated individuals while 13 are US cases. Of the 13 US cases, 11 were travel related while 2 were person to person spread. The 13th case was confirmed in Humboldt County, California. Of the 21 repatriated cases, 3 were directly from Wuhan while 18 were from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
In the map shared by the CDC, the number of countries with cases of the COVID-19 virus has expanded. The CDC maintains, however, that the virus is not actively spreading in the United States. The US has actively responded to the virus and has implemented travel restrictions and screenings for those who may have been exposed. This has probably prevented additional cases in the US.
The same cannot be said for some other countries. South Korea has reported that cases doubled in just 24 hours. The Korean CDC reports that one of the exposed patients has had over 1,160 contacts. Since the double in 24 hours, an additional 48 cases were confirmed. It’s apparent that the disease is spreading in the area and has not been fully contained.
Outside of the current travel guidance and the current plan in place, the US CDC has no intentions of changing its course of action. The website states that the health risk assessment could change at any time given the state of the disease. It is not expected that the US changes its course of action in the immediate future.
The Dow Jones was down 227 points as other world markets fell due to concerns about the disease. Other experts are predicting that the disease will spread more widely, which has caused economic response. This could be supported with the recent reports out of China that an additional 500 confirmed cases came from the prisons. It’s also supported with recent reports that the COVID-19 virus is more contagious than SARS or MERS.
While the US may not be concerned about the virus, it is important to stay informed on the topic. China has concerns regarding false positives and potential reinfection. While I have not read multiple reports of this and cannot 100% verify the accuracy, the article does share some interesting information that is worth noting.
The death toll from the virus in China has cross 2,000. While China reports that the deaths seem to be slowing, they are still happening. The implications on the economy will continue. You may think that this just causes issues in China and surrounding economies, but Apple recently announced it is causing problems. Stay tuned as this virus appears to be here for the immediate future.
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