The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially named the latest coronavirus that was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, and which continues to expand. It is now referred to as coronavirus disease 2019 (abbreviated “COVID-19”).
Along with its origin nation of China, COVID-19 illnesses, most of them associated with travel from Wuhan, also are being reported in a growing number of international locations, including the United States. Some person-to-person spread of this virus outside China has been detected. The United States reported the first confirmed instance of person-to-person spread with this virus on January 30, 2020.
Figure 1: Photo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
On January 31, 2020, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency (PHE) for the United States to aid the nation’s healthcare community in responding to COVID-19. The federal government is working closely with state, local, tribal, and territorial partners, as well as public health partners, to respond to this health threat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published guidance for health care professionals on the clinical care of COVID-19 patients, which can be accessed here.
And in British Columbia, Canada, Minister of Health Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer (PHO), issued a joint statement in late January that read: “The BC Centre for Disease Control has a team of experts that support the Province’s operations in monitoring and controlling communicable and vaccine-preventable diseases.”