US coronavirus tally hits 11 as global death toll rises

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised its tally of confirmed novel coronavirus infections to 11 on Monday, officially adding five more cases amid a global campaign to contain the virus.

The new confirmed cases include four patients in California and one in Massachusetts. All except one patient have travel history to Wuhan, China, the outbreak's epicenter, Nancy Messonnier, the U.S. health body's respiratory disease director, told reporters on a conference call.

The additional patient, who lives in California, is a close household contact of a previously diagnosed patient and is the second confirmed person-to-person transmission of the disease in the United States.

Cases have now been recorded in five states: Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington.

The CDC reported that 167 patients have so far tested negative for the disease, and testing is pending on 82 additional individuals.

The U.S. implemented Sunday stringent new travel regulations in an attempt to thwart the spread of the disease within the country.

In addition to imposing a temporary entry ban on foreign nationals who traveled to China two weeks prior to U.S. arrival, the U.S. is requiring any U.S. citizen who has traveled to China's Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, within the last 14 days to undergo mandatory quarantine at a government facility for two weeks.

U.S. citizens who traveled to the rest of mainland China within that time frame will be required to undergo additional screening and submit to "14 days of monitored self-quarantine to ensure they’ve not contracted the virus and do not pose a public health risk," Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced last Friday.

The coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has so far claimed 362 lives since its outbreak last December. Over 17,200 others have been infected by the epidemic believed to have been transmitted to humans from animals, particularly bats.

Besides China, the virus has spread to more than 24 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, France, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Nepal, and Canada.

Travelers from China are being screened at airports worldwide and several airlines have suspended flights to Wuhan.

Japan, South Korea, U.S., Australia, Pakistan, India, France, Germany, Indonesia, and Turkey evacuated their citizens from Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly virus.