First US evacuee from China to develop coronavirus was MISTAKENLY released from San Diego hospital after initial test was negative as it becomes 13th case in the US as global death toll tops 1,000
An evacuee who landed in the US last week from Wuhan was confirmed to have coronavirus on Monday evening in San Diego, California
This marks the 13th confirmed case of coronavirus in the US
The patient was one of 232 American citizens flown from Wuhan to the US on a charter flight arranged by the State Department last week
Details on patient’s gender and age are not yet known
The patient is being treated at the San Diego UC San Diego Medical Center
Hospital said the patient is ‘doing well and has minimal symptoms’
Coronavirus has been confirmed in at least 24 countries and the global death toll stood at 1,013 by Monday evening
By MARLENE LENTHANG
DAILYMAIL.COM
11 February 2020
The first American rescued from Wuhan who has been confirmed to have coronavirus was mistakenly discharged from hospital after he initially tested negative.
After the patient was airlifted from the locked-down Hubei province, China, last week, they were quarantined with 231 fellow evacuees at the University of California health department, where they will remain for two weeks.
They and three others who were displaying possible signs of infection were bundled into isolation at San Diego hospital for immediate probing – but doctors dismissed the suspected symptoms as a false alarm and released them back to the quarantine compound.
However, on Monday, the city’s health authority announced that further testing revealed that this patient was suffering from coronavirus, marking the 13th case on United States soil.
University of California, San Diego Health said in a statement: ‘CDC officials advised San Diego Public Health that further testing revealed that one of the four patients tested positive.
‘The confirmed positive patient was returned to UC San Diego Health for observation and isolation until cleared by the CDC for release.’
The highly contagious virus has a 14-day incubation period of no visible symptoms where a carrier can still spread infection.
Since the outbreak spawned in Wuhan late last year, it has infected over 42,000 and killed over 1,000 worldwide, the overwhelming majority of which in China.
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