US Reports 34 Coronavirus Cases, With More Likely

The number of people in the US known to be infected with the new coronavirus is at 34 and rising, government health officials reported Friday. Thirteen of the patients were found to have the virus after returning from China, the New York Times reports. The other 21 were repatriated, including 18 people who were aboard the Diamond Princess, which is docked in Japan. The US count will rise once the CDC confirms more test results, said the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Tests conducted in Japan found that another 10 Americans are infected, per CNN.

The CDC hasn't found COVID-19 to be spreading in the US, the official said. But the agency is planning for that possibility and increasing its monitoring, per the Wall Street Journal. "This new virus represents a tremendous public health threat," Nancy Messonnier said. Seven of the US cases are in California, with one in Massachusetts, one in Washington state, one in Arizona, two in Illinois and one in Wisconsin. The 13th case, in Humboldt County, California, was confirmed Friday. Other Americans are seriously ill in hospitals in Japan, Messonnier said. (More COVID-19 stories.)