CDC: U.S. Coronavirus Cases at 11, Another Person-to-Person Transmission Confirmed

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD

The CDC on Monday announced five additional confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the U.S. — four in California and one in Massachusetts — bringing the total to 11.

Of the five new cases, four had a travel history to Wuhan, China. The fifth case, in California, is a close household contact of a patient who had been to Wuhan; it's the second confirmed person-to-person transmission in the U.S.

The CDC said that 167 persons under investigation have tested negative for the virus, and results are pending for another 82. The agency is requesting emergency use authorization from the FDA for its real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assay. It expects to be able to send out the test to states and other countries later this week.

Also later this week, the U.S. Department of State is expected to bring more U.S. travelers back from Wuhan. All will be quarantined for 14 days.

In China, authorities are reporting over 17,200 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV and 360 related deaths. Just one death has been reported outside China (in the Philippines).