coronavirus

2 People From NH Being Monitored for Coronavirus

The new strain of the coronavirus can cause fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia, though those symptoms are also characteristic of the common flu

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Two people from New Hampshire who recently traveled to Wuhan, China, are being monitored for the new coronavirus, health officials announced Monday.

The two individuals had sought treatment after developing respiratory symptoms and are recovering, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

The individuals will remain in isolation until lab results sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention come back.

One of the people has been identified as a student from White Mountain School in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, according to Littleton Regional Healthcare.

"Following the CDC guidelines for infection control, the patient has been placed in a negative pressure intensive care room for treatment to prevent cross-contamination to other areas of the hospital," LRH said in a statement Monday night.

A diagnosis is not expected for at least a day or two, the hospital added.

The new strain of the coronavirus can cause fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia, though those symptoms are also characteristic of the common flu. The new bug is a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the deadly SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past.

So far, five people in the United States have been infected with the new virus, health officials said. Testing on more than 100 others is ongoing.

All of the patients infected with the virus had traveled to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

Dozens of people have died from the virus in China, which has issued massive travel bans in hard-hit sections of that country to try to stem spread of the virus.

As new cases of the coronavirus are reported around the world, a doctor explains where the 2019 Novel Coronavirus comes from and what you can do to protect yourself from the outbreak.
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