Coronavirus Update: New York On 'High Alert' As 2 New Cases 'Under Investigation'

As of Wednesday evening, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists no confirmed cases arising from the Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in either New York State or New York City -- but that might change in the next few days.

The New York City Department of Health (NYC Health) said it tested five people in the city for potential coronavirus infection as of Wednesday afternoon. It confirms having five “patients under investigation (PUI)” for the coronavirus and is awaiting test results on four of them from the CDC. The specimen from the first PUI sent to the CDC came out negative.

“We are fortunate that the test results from our first person under investigation came back negative, but we expect to see more people presenting to health care facilities with symptoms of the novel coronavirus," said Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot.

The two new PUIs are both under 40. One has been hospitalized and the other is under isolation with daily monitoring by NYC Health.

“This means they had recently been in China and presented with fever and cough or shortness of breath without another common cause, like influenza and other respiratory viruses, identified through testing,” said CDC.

NYC Health said the second person will remain under “appropriate isolation precautions” and be subjected to daily monitoring. New York city officials confirmed two of the five are under 40 years old and recently returned from China.

“New York City is on high alert and prepared to handle any confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “My message to New Yorkers remains the same: if you have the travel history and are exhibiting symptoms, please see your health provider immediately.”

As of Thursday morning, Hong Kong time, 2019-nCoV has killed 492 persons (all but two of them in China) and infected 24,648 others. China's National Health Commission (NHC) reports 911 persons have recovered from the coronavirus. The coronavirus has sickened people in 23 countries and territories. There is no known cure for this new disease.

As of February 5, CDC reports 11 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States. Test results for 76 PUIs are pending while another 206 PUIs tested negative for the disease.

The 11 confirmed cases are in Washington state (one case), California (six cases), Illinois (two cases) Arizona (one case), and Massachusetts (one case), said CDC. The first coronavirus case was confirmed by the CDC on January 24.

On Wednesday, however, Wisconsin officials confirmed a single coronavirus case in the state, making this the 12th confirmed case in the country if confirmed by CDC.