First Confirmed Coronavirus Case Within NYC

A sad but not unexpected update to the Coronavirus tracker today: The first case of coronavirus has been confirmed within the city.

The person is described as a female in her late 30s who recently returned from Iran, which has been experiencing an outbreak and has seen the highest number of deaths of any country besides China. The New York resident's current condition was described as minor respiratory symptoms, so hopefully she will soon recover, as the vast majority of healthy individuals have worldwide.

The first confirmed case comes amid announcements that New York now has the ability to test for coronavirus infection at state labs before sending samples to the CDC for testing.

Despite the new testing capacity, are the right cases being tested? One Brooklyn man who recently returned from Tokyo fears that people aren't being properly tested after he was unable to receive a coronavirus screening after developing flu-like symptoms. He has now self-quarantined himself in his apartment, waiting for his flu-like disease to subside, or to worsen to the point that the CDC would prioritize coronavirus testing, which was the initial reason the hospital's referral was denied by the CDC.

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