Story at a glance
- Two of the three California coronavirus cases involving a husband and wife has reportedly worsened since Sunday evening.
- The couple have been taken to the University of California San Francisco to be treated in isolation.
- Prior to this admission, the couple had been self-isolating at their home in San Benito County.
Two people diagnosed with the deadly Wuhan coronavirus became “suddenly much more ill” on Sunday evening, and a couple was taken to a hospital in San Francisco by Monday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The two patients, a husband and wife hailing from San Benito County, were diagnosed with the coronavirus after the husband had returned from traveling to China. Along with one additional case in Santa Clara County, the husband and wife made up the three new cases reported in California on Monday.
They had reportedly been self-isolating in their home since Jan. 24. Both are said to be 57 years old.
The couple is currently hospitalized at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center, where they have been placed in isolation, according to multiple outlets.
The UCSF Medical Center is said to have doctors who are specialists in “the care of patients with complex illnesses, including infectious diseases like the novel coronavirus,” per an official UCSF statement. The school had treated patients in the last coronavirus outbreak, SARS.
San Francisco public officials have been quick to assure residents of their safety. The city’s Mayor London Breed states that it will be safe to hold the Chinese New Year parade this weekend, and the San Francisco Department of Public Health confirms that there are no diagnosed cases in San Francisco and that the risk to the general public is low. A press release from the Department of Public Health reiterates this.
Currently, more than 20,000 cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed worldwide, and there are a recorded 425 deaths, mainly in China.
There are 11 confirmed cases in the U.S. The first patient, a Seattle man in his 30s, was recently discharged in good health.
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