Health officials in Nassau County, New York have begun monitoring 83 individuals believed to have had possible contact with the coronavirus, ABC 7 New York reports. The residents in question have been asked to go through voluntary isolation for two weeks, and they will be required to report their temperature or possible symptoms every day.
Nassau County health officials announced the news on Wednesday at a press conference. "The health department prepares for this sort of thing all year round. We've got boots on the ground and we're monitoring this situation in Nassau very, very closely and have been right from the beginning to respond to any cases should they emerge in our county," said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
"Should someone need medical care, we'll evaluate it and we have protocols in place to safely get them medical care," added the county's Department of Health Commissioner, Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein, who explained that most of those asked to undergo voluntary isolation have been cooperative. Since the outbreak of the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, a total of 175 people in Nassau County have undergone such isolation. Five residents have been tested, but the results were negative, while a sixth test is still awaiting results.
As of Feb. 26, a total of 81,027 cases of the virus have been confirmed worldwide, 78,095 of which are in mainland China. The number of cases in the United States is currently at 53, although there has yet to be any deaths outside of Asia and Europe. The number is expected to rise as the virus continues to spread, although to what degree remains uncertain. As The Hill reports, a Los Angeles flight attendant was recently diagnosed with coronavirus in Seoul, South Korea.
