US: Hawaii officials begin search for potential Coronavirus infections

With different parts of the world reeling from the outbreak of the dealy novel Coronavirus - now officially name COVID-19 by the WHO, health officials in Hawaii have started their search for potentially infected people on February 14. The search was anyone who had potentially come in contact with a Japanese tourist who fell sick on the island of Oahu and tested positive for the Coronavirus.

Japanese tourist might have been infected in Japan

According to reports, the case came to light after Governor David Ige and state health officials stated that the infected man may have contracted the virus in Japan before flying down to Hawaii. In addition to this, officials stated that their assumption was based on the incubation period of the virus and that the Japanese man started showcasing Coronavirus symptoms.

According to reports, the Japanese tourist and his spouse went to the island of Maui and then headed to Oahu before flying back to Japan. The tourist did not exhibit any symptoms until reaching Oahu, where he first showcased cold-like symptoms without any fever. After going back to Japan, he became very sick and was tested for the virus after going to a hospital.

Hawaiin officials were alerted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on February 14 and that resulted in the state health officials alerting local health officials to look out for anyone who might have come in contact with the Japanese tourist.

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Hawaii officials in contact with Japanese authorities

State health officials said that they were in contact with Japanese authorities to get more details about his Hawaii travel itinerary. Hawaii is the closest US Pacific Island state to the origin of the deadly Coronavirus and has not reported any confirmed case on its land while cased across the US stand at 15.

A senior US official on February 14 said that the US will begin testing people identified by local health authorities having flu-like symptoms for the deadly Coronavirus. It is a major step taken by the government in response to contain the deadly global health emergency.

A senior official of CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Nancy Messonnier, said that the body had started working with five public health labs across the country to conduct community-based influenza surveillance in order to test people with flu-like symptoms. Meanwhile, the Coronavirus has killed nearly 1,526 infected over 67,000 people including three outside mainland China.

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(With Agency Inputs)