Coronavirus News: New Jersey has first presumptive positive case of coronavirus, Gov. Murphy reports
New Jersey has first presumptive positive case of coronavirus, Governor Murphy reported on Wednesday.
Health officials report that the man in his 30s is hospitalized in Bergen County, and has been hospitalized since March 3rd.
RELATED: 5 more COVID-19 patients test positive; 11 cases in New York
"My Administration is working aggressively to keep residents safe and contain the spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey," said Governor Murphy. "We take this situation very seriously and have been preparing for this for weeks. I urge residents to remain calm and use resources from the New Jersey Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control to prepare and prevent the spread of infection. Safeguarding the public's health is one of my highest priorities and my Administration is prepared to respond swiftly to any additional positive cases of COVID-19 here in New Jersey."
The presumptive positive result came from a sample tested bt the New Jersey Department of Health at the New Jersey Public Health Environmental Laboriatories.
The sample will then be sumbitted to the CDC for confirmatory testing.
State and local public health authorites are treating this case as if it were a confirmed case out of precaution. Officials say the hospital is working closely with the Department of Health to follow infectious disease protocols.
The New Jersey Department of Health is in the process of tracing close contacts with the patient.
More information will be released when it becomes available.
RELATED INFORMATION:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on coronavirus
New Yorkers can call the State hotline at 1-888-364-3065, where experts from the Department of Health can answer questions regarding the novel coronavirus.
New York State information about coronavirus
New York City information about coronavirus
John Hopkins' coronavirus tracking dashboard
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