PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona health officials said Friday that they have yet to determine how a third patient with the new coronavirus became infected.
Public health officials from Maricopa County and Pinal County, where the patient works and lives, respectively, said they are treating this latest case as stemming from “community spread.” The patient, a woman in her 40s, is a health care worker in metro Phoenix.
Neither she nor any of her “close contacts” had recently traveled to a country with widespread COVID-19 cases.
She is currently hospitalized in stable condition in Maricopa County.
“I understand that this sounds concerning,” said Dr. Shauna McIsaac, health director of Pinal County Department of Public Health. “But it’s important people know that public health is prepared for community spread of flu-like illness every year.”
The two previous Arizona cases involved people in metro Phoenix.
Washing hands with soap and water and not touching your eyes, nose or mouth continues to be the best way to decrease the spread of the virus, officials said. They also urged anyone feeling sick to stay home.
“These are three things that will be the most effective way to prevent the spread of this virus,” McIsaac said.
The virus spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The symptoms are thought to appear between two and 14 days after exposure, the department said. Children appear to have milder forms of the respiratory illness and aren’t at risk for “severe disease,” said Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
“Just like the flu, the vast majority of people will have mild symptoms and completely recover without any treatment at home,” Sunenshine said.
The woman’s case was the second identified through testing by a state health lab.
Meanwhile, three firefighters and two ambulance workers in Scottsdale remain under quarantine at their homes after treating a patient who later tested positive for the new coronavirus. They have not displayed any symptoms, according to Maricopa County Public Health officials.
The man they treated last week was the state’s second patient with the new coronavirus. A hospitality company that operates two nightclubs in Scottsdale said one of their employees with “a communicable disease” was at both places briefly on Sunday. In a Facebook post, Riot Hospitality Group said it has hired a professional cleaning company to do a deep-cleaning of both establishments as a precaution.
Health officials have said there is no public health danger at either nightclub.
The potential for COVID-19 to spread means that health care workers who have been exposed will only be asked to isolate if they show symptoms.
“If someone is exposed, we are allowing them to continue working but monitoring them closely,” Sunenshine said. “That’s how we’re making sure we are not in a situation where we don’t have enough health care workers.”
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