Health officials in Orange County have confirmed California's first case of the deadly coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control confirmed early Sunday morning.
A traveler from Wuhan, China has been transported to a hospital in Orange County and is in isolation, officials said in a statement. The OC Health Care Agency (HCA) provided guidance to the patient to reduce exposure to the public while they were awaiting confirmation from the CDC, which came Saturday night.
Health officials said that there is no evidence that the virus has spread in Orange County and that the current risk of infection in the area remains low.
According to guidelines from the CDC, people who have casual contact with an infected person are at low risk of contracting the virus. Casual contact is defined in this instance as being in the vicinity of someone who has the coronavirus, such as in a movie theater or grocery store.
The HCA is contacting anyone who they believe may have had close contact with the person infected, health officials said.
This is the third confirmed case of the coronavirus in the United States. The other two cases were in Washington and Illinois.
