the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hackensack NJ, according to North Jersey Media a patient at Hackensack University Medical Center was being evaluated Thursday night for possible infection with the coronavirus that originated in central China and has caused worldwide concern of a possible epidemic.
The patient, a 25-year-old woman, was transported to the hospital on Thursday evening by the Edgewater Emergency Medical Services, according to EMS sources.
“The hospital, the Department of Health and local health officials are working together to gather additional information,” said Donna Leusner, a spokeswoman for the state Health Department.. “No definitive diagnosis has been made regarding the patient. She added ,”As a precautionary measure, the hospital is following all appropriate infection control protocols,” That would include isolating the patient.
“After an evaluation of the patient and consulting with the State Department of Health, experts have determined the patient does not have the Wuhan coronavirus,” Nancy Radwin, a hospital spokeswoman, said in a statement issued at 10:55 p.m.
According to the New Jersey Department of Health ,2019-nCoV or Coronavirus is a respiratory infection caused by a novel (new) virus that arose from the area of Wuhan, China in December, 2019. Most of the early cases of this illness were linked to a large seafood and animal market suggesting possible animal-to-person spread of the virus. The market closed on January 2, 2020 as part of the investigation and response to this outbreak. Once a person is infected, the virus causes respiratory illness. Outbreaks of novel virus infections among people are always of public health concern. The risk from these outbreaks depends on the characteristics of the virus, including how well it spreads between people, the severity of the resulting illness, and the medical or other measures available to control the impact of the virus (for example, medications or vaccines).
