Health officials report no coronavirus cases in Fla. as Miami prepares for Super Bowl
Though a global spread of novel coronavirus, a respiratory illness that emerged in China last month, has officially reached the U.S., there were no reported cases in Florida on Friday, according to health officials.
The Florida Department of Health said it is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to closely monitor the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus, termed “2019-nCoV.” The virus has so far been confirmed in two U.S. cases. — one in Washington state and one in Chicago.
“Though no cases have been reported in Florida to date, the department is coordinating closely with our local partners to investigate, confirm, contain and report any suspected cases, should they occur,” a health department spokesman said.
Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, said Friday that the risk to the general U.S. population remains “low.”
Ivan Gonzalez, associate professor at the University of Miami and an infectious disease physician, said that he and other health professionals are setting up protocols for screenings at Jackson Memorial Hospital in case anyone comes in with symptoms that resemble the disease.
Gonzalez said that Miami is in the midst of a particularly bad flu season, which could complicate detection of coronavirus because the symptoms are extremely similar.
“They’re kind of intertwined in the way that they show up with signs and symptoms,” Gonzalez said. “The only thing that distinguishes the two is the exposure to travel at this point.”
The city is expecting a crush of tourists in advance of the Feb. 2 Super Bowl. Gonzalez said that staff at Jackson will be screening for anyone who has traveled to China, Thailand or other countries that have a high number of cases.
Coronaviruses commonly cause illnesses in people, typically after being circulated among animals, but the viruses rarely evolve to spread between people. One notable example is the global SARS outbreak, which caused 774 deaths in 17 countries from 2002 to 2004, according to the World Health Organization.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday said that international reports have indicated there are close to 300 people who have been confirmed with novel coronavirus in China, with additional travel-associated cases in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.
The CDC started entry screening at various U.S. airports on Friday: San Francisco, New York JFK, and Los Angeles International Airport, screened more than 1,200 passengers. The airport screening will expand to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport and Chicago O’Hare airport, the agency added.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Health officials report no coronavirus cases in Fla. as Miami prepares for Super Bowl."
