First patient in Nevada tests presumptively positive for novel coronavirus through VA health system
Submitted by admin on Thu, 03/05/2020 - 9:56am
The first patient in Nevada has tested presumptively positive for the novel coronavirus, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
A test performed by the Southern Nevada Health District confirmed the patient is presumptively positive for the virus, and a sample is being sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for official confirmation. The individual was identified through the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System.
According to the CDC, a presumptive positive result is treated for public health purposes as a positive.
Further details about the patient’s condition, how the disease was contracted and whether any health care workers were exposed during the course of treatment were not immediately available. A health district spokeswoman said in an email that an official statement with a “coronavirus update” will be provided Thursday morning, with a news briefing scheduled for later in the day.
The case will make the second within the VA health system. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie told lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that one veteran is being treated for the virus at a VA facility in Palo Alto, California. According to Dr. Richard Stone, who helms the Veterans Health Administration, the VA has about 1,000 testing kits and plans to order more.
Dr. Ihsan Azzam, Nevada’s chief medical officer, had said Monday that a coronavirus outbreak in the state is “not a question of if, it’s when.”
At least 152 patients in the U.S. across 16 states — including neighboring California, Oregon, Arizona and Utah — had been confirmed to have contracted the disease as of Wednesday evening. Eleven people have died from it in the country, including an elderly adult from Placer County, California.
State health officials are reminding people with symptoms of COVID-19 — a fever and cough — to stay at home, monitor their symptoms, treat their condition with over-the-counter medications and call their doctor for further advice, particularly if they have recently traveled to an affected area or come in contact with someone known to have contracted the disease.
Anyone experiencing shortness of breath, a sign of a more serious complication, is advised to seek medical treatment.
As preventative measures, officials have recommended that people avoid close contact with those who are sick, stay home from work and school when they are sick, cover their noses and mouths while sneezing and coughing, wash their hands often with soap and water, avoid touching their eyes, noses and mouths and clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces at home, work and school.
— This story was used by permission of The Nevada Independent. Go here for updates to this and other developing stories.
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