- Credibility:
CHICAGO — The Centers for Disease Control confirmed Friday the coronavirus has spread to Chicago.
The potentially deadly virus was found in a woman in Chicago, the second patient confirmed to have the virus in the United States. More than 60 people across 22 states are also being treated for a potential infection.
Still, the “immediate risk to the U.S. public is low at this time,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier at a CDC news conference on Friday morning, according to reports. And local officials said there is no reason for Chicagoans to change their everyday behavior.
The Chicago woman is in her 60s and traveled to Wuhan, China, in December and returned on Jan. 13. Her condition was not available but she was described as “stable.”
The woman was not symptomatic while traveling, “which lowers the risk,” local officials said. Several days after the woman came home, she developed minor symptoms and sought care.
The woman has not had “extended close contact with anyone outside her home” and had “very limited movement outside her home,” officials said, adding she hadn’t taken public transportation or been at large gatherings.
The woman won’t be released from the hospital until she no longer shows symptoms. Healthcare workers helping her and people the woman was close to are being monitored for symptoms of the virus.
Earlier this week, city officials teamed up with federal and state agencies, as well as the CDC, to start a screening program at O’Hare Airport for people flying in from Wuhan.
The virus has killed at least 25 people so far in China and hundreds more have been made ill. U.S. officials have warned Americans not to travel to the Hubei province in China due to the sickness.
The virus was first discovered in Wuhan. The first case in an American was reported on Tuesday in Washington when a man in his 30s who had traveled to Wuhan was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
The virus is related to the common cold and is spread through things like coughing and sneezing.
