According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the patient is a 60-year-old Chicago resident. She is in isolation at a hospital in Chicago and is in stable condition, reports CNN News.
The woman had visited in Wuhan, China in December and flew back to Chicago on January 13. She was not symptomatic on the flight home. It is believed she was not a danger to other passengers on the flight from Wuhan to Chicago.
Health authorities say she has had limited close contacts since returning to Chicago; she has not used public transit, attended large gatherings or had extended close contact with anyone outside her home.
Health officials also say the woman did the right thing by calling her doctor to report she was ill, rather than physically going to a hospital or urgent care facility, according to NBC News.
“We ask that any individual who begins to experience symptoms and has recently traveled to Wuhan, or had contact with someone diagnosed with the novel coronavirus to call their health care provider or hospital before seeking treatment so that appropriate infection control measures can be put into place,” Dr. Jennifer Layden, chief medical officer at the Illinois Department of Public Health, said during a call with journalists Friday.
The first coronavirus case in the U.S., a 30-year-old man in Washington State is said to be recovering, but remained hospitalized at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington on Friday.
The CDC is monitoring 63 people from 22 states as of Friday. Eleven of the 63 tested negative for the virus and two, the Chicago patient and the Washington patient, tested positive. The CDC says there are likely to be many more under investigation in the coming days.
