Breitbart The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed Wednesday a potential case of infection with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in California in a person not associated with relevant travel history or exposure to another known infected patient.
At this time, the patientâs exposure is unknown. Itâs possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States. Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. Itâs also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.
According to the health agency, the case was identified through the public health system âby astute clinicians.â
âThis brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States to 15,â CDC noted.
According to a report at the Washington Post, just moments after President Donald Trumpâs announcement that Vice President Mike Pence would be heading a task force on the coronavirus, CDC confirmed the new case was a person in northern California who had neither traveled outside the United States nor come in contact with another infected individual.
Trump reassured Americans that the nation was prepared to deal with further spread of the coronavirus if that occurred.
âWe are ready to adapt and weâre ready to do whatever we have to as the disease spreads, if it spreads,â he said, as Breitbart News reported.
The president also thanked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for overseeing the task force and touted the âtremendous successâ of the effort to contain the virus.
With all the student, business and vacation travel back and forth between China and America, and given the apparent high level of contagion, it is impossible that we have so far escaped community spread in the US. In all likelyhood it is already here but no one has noticed. My guess is doctors have not been able to distinguish it from the ordinary flu. If this is correct we can conclude in a healthy, well fed population it apparently is causing nether undue critical illness nor deaths. The standard influenza kills thousands each year and this “novel” corona virus simply does not stand out against this background. We will just have to wait till we see results of more extensive testing by CDC … assuming they do eventually get around to it. Such testing is way overdo as if intentional.
PS: There are rumors that workers at the level 4 labs in China earn extra money by actually selling dead laboratory animals to local meat markets. No telling what viruses have escaped over the years through this vector. China leadership has finally put an end to this practice. Additionally, restaurants can no longer serve up dog and cat meat.