Three more people in Northern California have been diagnosed with the coronavirus known as 2019-nCoV, health officials in the area said Sunday, doubling the number of cases in the state and bringing the total across the country to 11.
The patients, whose symptoms are not yet serious enough to warrant hospitalization, are being kept in their homes, where they are being closely monitored, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Two of the patients are a husband and wife from San Benito County. The husband fell ill after he returned home from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began. It is believed he transferred the virus to his wife, who had not been to China.
The other patient became sick while visiting family in Santa Clara County. She also previously visited Wuhan. Since arriving in the United States on Jan. 23, she has only left her home twice to seek out medical assistance.
Officials from both counties said they are working to identify anyone who may have come into contact with the three people.
“I don’t think that these two cases change the risk to the general public,” said Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. “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 or without a known close contact.”
In China, 17,205 people have contracted the coronavirus, which has killed at least 361 people in China and one in the Philippines. Another 150 cases have been reported outside China.