U.S. Coronavirus Count Has Ticked Up To 5, But Experts Say You Really Shouldn’t Be Panicking

The New York Times: More U.S. Coronavirus Cases Emerge, As China’s Death Toll Rises
The mayor of Wuhan, which is at the center of the viral outbreak, said on Sunday that there could be about 1,000 more confirmed cases of the mysterious illness in the city — a sign that China’s monumental efforts to halt the disease may only just be starting. In a news conference, the mayor, Zhou Xianwang, said that the estimate was based on the assumption that around half of the city’s nearly 3,000 suspected cases of the coronavirus would eventually test positive for the disease. The youngest confirmed case involved a 9-month-old girl in Beijing, according to The People’s Daily, a state newspaper. (1/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Three More Cases Of Coronavirus Confirmed In U.S.
Health authorities in Orange County and Los Angeles County in California, and Maricopa County in Arizona confirmed cases of the virus there. All had recently traveled to Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus originated, health authorities said. The news came hours after U.S. State Department officials said they would evacuate a planeload of diplomats and other U.S. citizens to San Francisco from Wuhan, which is under quarantine. (Findell and Armour, 1/26)

Los Angeles Times: California Confirms 2 Cases Of Coronavirus In L.A., Orange Counties
“The risk of local transmission remains low,” officials said. The L.A. County patient is a Wuhan resident who was flying through Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday on his way back to China, L.A. County public health officials said during a news conference Sunday. “The infected person presented themselves immediately for care at LAX airport once they noticed they weren’t feeling well,” said L.A. County public health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer. The patient was taken from LAX directly to a hospital, and no L.A. County residents were infected or at risk as of Sunday morning, Ferrer said. (Wigglesworth, Lin and Kohli, 1/26)

Los Angeles Times: Should You Panic About The Coronavirus From China? Experts Say No
It’s a virus scientists have never seen before. Health officials don’t know exactly where it came from, but it has traveled more than 7,000 miles since it was discovered late last month in central China. New infections are confirmed every day despite an unprecedented quarantine. The death toll is rising, too. If this were a Hollywood movie, now would be time to panic. In real life, however, all that most Americans need to do is wash their hands and proceed with their usual weekend plans. (Baumgaertner, 1/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Health Officials Brace For Potential Coronavirus Cases
The deadly respiratory virus that has infected nearly 1,300 people worldwide — including at least two people in the United States — has not reached the Bay Area, but public health and infectious disease experts are bracing for potential cases and ramping up outreach to those most at risk of falling ill. In California, 18 people ranging from 3 to 58 years old had been tested as of Friday, and no cases of infection had been confirmed, according to the state Department of Public Health. (Allday, 1/24)

The Associated Press: Virus Death Toll In China Rises As US Prepares Evacuation
The U.S. has confirmed cases in Washington state, Chicago, Southern California and Arizona. Canada said it discovered its first case, a man in his 50s who was in Wuhan before flying to Toronto. Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea each reported one new case Sunday, while Thailand reported three new cases. A notice from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said there would be limited capacity to transport U.S. citizens on a Tuesday flight from Wuhan that will proceed directly to San Francisco. It said that in the event there are not enough seats, priority will be given to to individuals “at greater risk from coronavirus." (Moritsugu, 1/25)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: 2nd U.S. Coronavirus Case Found In Chicago; Main Line Chinese New Year Canceled
But with more cases predicted, some in the Philadelphia area are responding with caution. The Main Line Chinese Culture Center has canceled a Chinese New Year celebration that had been scheduled for Sunday, at Great Valley High School in Malvern, citing the fact that many children and older people were expected to attend. “It’s just an extreme precaution,” said Qunbin Xiong, principal of the center, which offers educational programs to children and adults. “Even though we have no cases, and we’re so far away, some in the community feel like they’re closer to that virus.”The event typically draws a crowd of more than 1,000, and organizers would be unable to ensure that no visitors had recently traveled in the Wuhan area, he said. (Avril, 1/24)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Working To Evacuate American Citizens From Epidemic-Stricken Chinese City
The U.S. government is working to evacuate American citizens by air from the epidemic-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan as soon as possible, according to people familiar with the effort. The operation comes as the death toll from a newly identified coronavirus that originated in Wuhan climbs above 40 and the number of confirmed infections tops 1,300, with many of the cases in and around the central Chinese city of 11 million people. (Areddy and Lin, 1/25)

San Francisco Chronicle: US To Evacuate Staff In Wuhan, Center Of Virus Outbreak, On Flight To SFO
The U.S. State Department said it plans to evacuate its staff and some private citizens out of the Chinese city of Wuhan — the epicenter of the growing coronavirus outbreak — on a flight to San Francisco on Tuesday. ...Priority will be given to “individuals at greater risk” of contracting the virus, officials said. (Sanchez, 1/26)

The Hill: Top Health Officials Brief Senators On Coronavirus As Infections Spread
Top U.S. public health officials on Friday briefed senators on the spread of coronavirus, which has infected hundreds of people in China and two in the United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Robert Redfield and Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the infectious disease unit of the National Institutes of Health, led the briefing. Most senators expressed satisfaction leaving the briefing that officials are taking appropriate steps to fight the virus. (Weixel and Sullivan, 1/24)

The Hill: GOP Senator Calls For Public Health Emergency Over New Coronavirus
A GOP senator wants the Trump administration to declare the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency. “We have to get serious about the threat of coronavirus coming from China. I don’t trust Communist China to coordinate in a transparent and efficient manner when it comes to combatting the threat of the virus, so we have to do everything we can to protect Americans,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in a statement.“While all of the cases are still travel-related, we must take every precaution,” he added. (Weixel, 1/24)

The Hill: CDC Confirms Fifth Coronavirus Case In US
Authorities on Sunday confirmed the fifth known case of the new coronavirus in the U.S. The newly identified case was out of Maricopa, Ariz., Centers for Disease Control (CDC) director of National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Nancy Messonier told reporters. The confirmation follows two confirmed cases reported Sunday out of California. Cases in California have been confirmed in Orange County and in Los Angeles, according to the CDC. (Klar, 1/26)

The Baltimore Sun: Coronavirus Cases Found In US Will Test A Response Developed During Past Outbreaks; Precautions Taken In Maryland
“We predict these things can occur, though it’s always unexpected when they do,” said Matthew Frieman, a coronavirus researcher and associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “We hope that the knowledge base from studying SARS and MERS is helpful in studying and responding to this one. ”SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, originated in Asia in 2003 and sickened 8,000 people and killed about 800. Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It sickened almost 2,500 and killed more than 850 and continues infecting people. (Cohn, 1/27)

The New York Times: The Coronavirus: What Travelers Need To Know
The death toll from a novel coronavirus has now reached at least 76, with most of the more than 2,000 cases reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease. At least 10 other countries have also reported cases, and five people in the United States have been diagnosed; all had recently returned from China. Here’s what travelers making their way to or from China can expect. (Arnot, 1/26)

Detroit Free Press: Travelers Without Symptoms Can Unknowingly Spread Coronavirus In US
Travelers who unknowingly carry the coronavirus from Wuhan, China to the United States may pose the biggest risk for spreading the respiratory infection here, said Dr. Arnold Monto, a professor of epidemiology and global public health at the University of Michigan. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already begun screening people who travel from Wuhan to the United States for fevers and other signs of illness at airports in five U.S. cities — Atlanta (ATL), Chicago (ORD), San Francisco (SFO), New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX). But Monto questioned whether that will be enough to contain the virus."With the flu, you’re sick two days after you’re exposed," said Monto, who worked in Beijing, China, during another coronavirus outbreak, the 2002-2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, outbreak. "This is more like five days, and sometimes up to 11 days, which means that when you screen at ports of entry looking for fever, you may miss people who will get sick later. "It's those people, he said, who could be spreading coronavirus to others on airplanes, in airports and to health care workers who treat their symptoms. (Shamus, 1/25)

Dallas Morning News: Texas A&M Student Tests Negative For Coronavirus, School Confirms
A Texas A&M student who had been suspected of possibly carrying the new strain of coronavirus tested negative for the illness, health officials and the school announced Sunday. The Brazos County Health District had said Thursday that it was investigating whether the student, who was identified as a male in his 20s, had the virus. The student had recently traveled from Wuhan, China, where the strain of coronavirus was first detected. Officials said he had mild symptoms associated with the virus and was already improving by the time he was admitted to the emergency room. (Smith, 1/26)

Dallas Morning News: As Coronavirus Spreads Across The Globe, North Texas Asian-American Community Thinks Of Loved Ones Abroad
Josephine Hah was supposed to perform with her belly dancing class at another Lunar New Year celebration in Dallas this weekend, but the group canceled. “Two of my classmates that were supposed to dance with me have bailed out [because] they are worried about [the virus],” she said. Hah said she’s worried about her yoga instructor, who traveled to China earlier this month to visit her parents and is staying there for a few months. (Marfin, 1/26)

Nashville Tennessean: Coronavirus: Tennessee Tech Student Tests Negative, TDH Says
The Tennessee Tech University student tested for the potentially deadly coronavirus yielded negative results, the Tennessee Department of Health said Friday night in a news release. Test samples from the student were shipped Thursday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta after he exhibited "very mild symptoms" possibly related to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. (Wegner, 1/24)

Charlotte Observer: NC Traveler Doesn’t Have Coronavirus, NC Health Officials Say 
An airline traveler who was tested for the coronavirus after landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on Thursday does not have the potentially fatal virus, the N.C. Division of Public Health reported Saturday night. “Negative results were received this evening from testing performed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),” according to a division news release. “We are pleased that test results were negative and that the patient remains in good health,” said Dr. Zack Moore, state epidemiologist, in the release. “We are working with CDC and local partners to be sure we are prepared to detect and respond to any possible cases that might occur in North Carolina in the future.” (Schultz and Murphy, 1/25)

Kaiser Health News: Something Far Deadlier Than The Wuhan Virus Lurks Near You
There’s a deadly virus spreading from state to state. It preys on the most vulnerable, striking the sick and the old without mercy. In just the past few months, it has claimed the lives of at least 39 children. The virus is influenza, and it poses a far greater threat to Americans than the coronavirus from China that has made headlines around the world. (Szabo, 1/24)