January 26, 2020 | 10:35pm | Updated January 27, 2020 | 9:28am
The United States confirmed three new cases of the deadly coronavirus over the weekend — while officials in New York said four possible patients are being tested here.
The latest confirmed cases — which were detected in Arizona and California — brought the number of people being treated for the infectious disease nationally to five, health officials said.
All of those patients had traveled to ground zero of the outbreak — the central Chinese city of Wuhan — before showing symptoms of the virus, which can be transmitted between people.
One of the new cases was a student enrolled at Arizona State University in Tempe, state health officials said. The Arizona patient, whose identity wasn’t released, is not severely ill and is being kept in isolation to keep the virus from spreading.
Southern California was home to the other two patients — a man in his 50s who tested positive in Orange County and another person diagnosed in Los Angeles County with the flu-like virus, NPR reported.
Both were being treated at local hospitals, where they were placed in isolation, according to reports.
Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said seven possible cases in the Empire State have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing — with three coming back negative and results on the four others still pending.
“We’ve been through this a couple of times before with different situations so we’re prepared and we’re doing everything we can, and at this time, people should feel … as calm and confident as you can be with everything going on in this world,” Cuomo said Sunday. “But we’re on top of the situation.”
The four people remained in isolation Sunday, Cuomo’s office said.
Several people were seen on Sunday wearing masks at Chinese New Year celebrations in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
“There are just too many people right now. We just have to be careful,” said Sylvia Chen, 24, of Bensonhurst.
People were also seen wearing masks in Chinatown, and in Flushing, Queens.
Meanwhile, a student at Wesleyan University in Connecticut is being monitored as a possible case of the virus. The unidentified student complained of cough and fever after traveling through an airport where another person was identified as having the illness, the Hartford Courant reported.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are working with the state Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control to determine if the student has contracted the coronavirus or not,” the school said in a statement.
The Middleton college said the patient is being isolated and officials have notified everyone “with whom the student had close contact since returning to campus in order to monitor them.”
Students said Sunday they were on alert for any coronavirus symptoms — such as fever or trouble breathing — after being notified by email of the possible case.
“I’ll definitely start taking precautions, like going to the health center immediately to prevent anything,” Charlie Hertz, a 19-year-old student, told The Post.
Health officials have said there’s currently no cure for the ailment, but viruses can generally be avoided by washing one’s hands and avoiding touching one’s eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands, or coming in close contact with people who are sick.
Additional reporting by Rachel Green, wires
