Hundreds of people in Michigan are currently being monitored over concerns that they might have the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
All the people under observation have been to mainland China within the past two weeks or were passengers on a cruise ship where cases of the virus appeared, said state health officials. Those officials didn’t elaborate on which cruise ship it was.
The patients aren’t of a high enough risk to be quarantined at a facility, she said.
Five people in Michigan have been tested under the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) standards for the virus so far, but the tests have all came back negative. No cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Michigan, but one case was confirmed in nearby Wisconsin and two in nearby Illinois.
All of the patients in Michigan are being monitored for high fever, cough, or other respiratory issues, which are hallmarks of COVID-19.
Thirty-five cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the United States, with many of those having been on quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, which was held in isolation near Yokohama, Japan, for two weeks.
Eighteen of the recent cases were passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship and three were previously repatriated from China.
Messonnier, at the same time, said U.S. health officials are preparing for the likelihood that COVID-19 could become a pandemic.
In swaths of China, where the virus is believed to have originated, numerous schools and businesses have been closed down for weeks to contain the outbreak. The United States might be forced to do the same, Messonnier said.
“The day may come where we may need to implement such measures in this country,” she said.