Coronavirus: Here’s What Happened in the Last Few Days

Screen capture of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's live map of diagnosed coronavirus cases in the U.S. as of Feb. 3, 2020.
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Alhambra , CAIt’s Monday. Let’s round up what’s happening in California with the coronavirus.
Over the weekend three new cases were diagnosed in California. The national number of cases is 11; six in California, one in Arizona, one in Washington, two in Chicago and one in Massachusetts.
The California cases are in Orange County, Los Angeles County, two unrelated diagnoses in Santa Clara County, and two in San Benito County.
Only the two cases in San Benito County in Northern California were person-to-person transmission, from a husband who had traveled to Wuhan, China, to his wife, according to the county’s Health and Human Services Agency.
“It would not be surprising when we do have a new case due to close, household contact,” said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody in a press conference, as reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
“What would be significant is if we had a case without a history of travel, to an area where we know the virus is circulating without a known close contact.”
So far, all cases in the United States have travel ties to or near the epicenter of the outbreak. And the person-to-person transmissions have been between husbands and wives in San Benito County and in Chicago.
For evacuated Americans and those still returning from China, the U.S. government has set up quarantine sites and heavy screening at select airport, which funnel incoming flights. LAX is one of the screening sites. It was at LAX that the only Los Angeles County case was identified last month. A passenger, who was flying through LAX, presented themselves to officials when he noticed he wasn’t feeling well, as reported by the LA Times.
The Pentagon will mandatorily quarantine to two military bases in California anyone returning from Hubei. These bases include Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego and Travis Air Force Base, located between San Francisco and Sacramento.
At the moment, almost 200 people are already at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside for two weeks after being evacuated from Hubei province, according to the Associated Press.
The economy is also affected by the coronavirus. Commercial travel has been suspended by land, sea and air to and from mainland China as well.
Russia has stopped rail operations between Moscow and Beijing and North Korea. The Cruise Lines International Association, a cruise line industry trade group, says its members will ban anyone – guests or crew – who has traveled through China in the last two weeks. Business Insider counted at least 50 airlines cancelling flights to China.
In the San Gabriel Valley, fears are affecting the hospitality industry’s bottom line.
“We’ve been having a large amount of cancellations,” says Rodrigo Rigor, the Director of Front Office Operation of the Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel. “No parties [cancelled] or anything, but it is affecting the hotel industry.”
The Alhambra Source called the Hilton San Gabriel and was transferred to the hotel manager, whose phone went to voicemail. Alhambra Source had not heard from the Hilton San Gabriel at the time of publication.
As we reported last week – also 用中文 and en español, San Gabriel Valley residents are much more likely to get the flu than the coronavirus.
However, if you still have concerns, you can protect yourself from the coronavirus in the same way you protect yourself from the flu.
Wash your hands. Cover your cough. Seek medical attention if you feel ill. Do not rely on masks.
Visit our Stay Healthy page for information on the flu and coronavirus.
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