A student in his 20s who recently returned from Wuhan, China, is now the eighth U.S. case of novel coronavirus, health officials said on Saturday.
The man is a student at UMass Boston, who came back from China on Jan. 28, The Boston Globe reported. When he felt ill the next day, he visited a clinic and was "told to go into isolation at home." CDC confirmed the positive test on Friday night, and the man's close contacts are currently being monitored.
In France, the first healthcare professional outside of China to contract novel coronavirus was reported. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the health worker treated two patients later identified as probable cases.
And novel coronavirus cases worldwide skyrocketed on Saturday, with the latest WHO data indicating 11,953 cases -- up 2,000 from the previous day -- and a cumulative total of 259 deaths, a rise of 46 since Friday. Outside China, 132 cases in 23 countries are confirmed.
Evidence continues to mount daily that worldwide transmission of the virus has yet to be stemmed, with another ominous "first" being reported. For the first time outside China, WHO reported third-generation human-to-human transmission. A person in Germany contracted the virus from one of the individuals in the confirmed cluster of cases among the car company workers in Bavaria, Germany identified on Thursday night.
WHO previously discussed fourth-generation spread of novel coronavirus in China, which now has sustained human-to-human transmission.
The agency also reported the first case of exported novel coronavirus from a country other than China, confirming that a case in South Korea was infected after being exposed in Japan. Additional human-to-human transmission was documented in Japan and Germany, though those were part of existing clusters of cases reported in those countries. In addition, a taxi driver in Thailand with no travel history to China also became infected, WHO said.
On Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern time, the U.S. public health emergency announced on Friday takes effect. It includes new restrictions on travelers: mandatory medical quarantine on U.S. citizens returning from Hubei province (the outbreak's epicenter) within 14 days, funneling all incoming flights from China through seven airports with enhanced screening and self-isolation for U.S. citizens on board, and most foreign nationals who have been anywhere in China being denied entry into the country.