Fears over the spread of coronavirus in the U.S. are having an economic impact, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by more than three thousand points over the course of a week. What’s more, the increasing number of cases in California has prompted Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom to host a press conference.
Newsom press conference
“As of today, at this hour, we have 33 confirmed positive tests for the virus,” Newsom announced on Thursday afternoon.
NEW: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says 28 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 are currently living in the state: “We have 33 confirmed positive tests for the virus. Five individuals have subsequently moved out of state.” https://t.co/YLZA2m6M2m pic.twitter.com/NvdddWPJem
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 27, 2020
“Five individuals have subsequently moved out of state. So there are 28 people that we know in the state of California that are positive,” he added.
Possibly overlooked case
“The case yesterday, understandably, generated a lot of attention, but didn’t surprise any of the folks standing to my left or right,” Newsom said, gesturing towards the officials next to him.
“We knew this was inevitable,” he went on, explaining that his administration had “initiated a series of protocols that we were prepared to advance.”
“We are not overreacting nor are we under-reacting to the understandable anxiety many people have,” the governor insisted.
The case that “generated a lot of attention” was one in which a person was transferred to the UC Davis Medical Center on February 19 from another hospital. The individual was exhibiting symptoms consistent with those of coronavirus, but the CDC reportedly initially refused to test for it.
Patient not initially tested for coronavirus
UC Davis Medical Center released a statement quoted by The Hill that said, “Upon admission, our team asked public health officials if this case could be COVID-19.” COVID-19 is the official designation for the particular strain of coronavirus in question.
“We requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, since neither Sacramento County nor [California Department of Public Health] is doing testing for coronavirus at this time,” the statement continued.
“Since the patient did not fit the existing CDC criteria for COVID-19, a test was not immediately administered,” the hospital stated, explaining, “UC Davis Health does not control the testing process.”
CDC responds
The CDC disputed those claims in a statement of its own, claiming, “We are investigating this carefully, however, a preliminary review of CDC records indicates that CDC was first informed about this case on Sunday, February 23. That same day CDC requested specimens from the patient to test for COVID-19 exposure.”
How this patient contracted coronavirus is as of yet unknown.
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