US: 443 people investigated for coronavirus, Labs in 5 cities look for the virus spread

443 people in the US have been investigated for coronavirus

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists 443 people as under investigation for the novel coronavirus across 42 states, according to an update posted to the agency’s website Friday.

Of them…

• 15 have tested positive
• 347 have tested negative
• 81 are still pending

These numbers are cumulative since Jan. 21 and include people with travel history to China, as well as those who have been in close contact with confirmed cases or other people under investigation.

Related: US citizen tests positive for coronavirus, 7th case in Vietnam

Confirmed cases in the US include eight in California, one in Texas, one in Massachusetts, one in Washington state, one in Arizona, two in Illinois and one in Wisconsin. There are two instances of person-to-person transmission, one in Illinois and one in California. Reporting by CNN’s Michael Nedelman.

Two California cases and the Texas case are among evacuees from China.

This is an increase from Wednesday, when the CDC listed 420 people under investigation in 41 states, including 13 positive, 347 negative and 60 pending cases.

Labs in these 5 cities will look for coronavirus spread in the US

Public health labs in five cities will begin using existing flu surveillance to look for the spread of the novel coronavirus, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a call with reporters today.

The cities are:

1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco
3. Seattle
4. Chicago
5. New York City

Messonnier said this efficiently leverages the existing influenza surveillance systems to track whether the novel coronavirus is spreading in communities within the United States.

Also see: US citizen dies in Wuhan the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak

The labs will test for the coronavirus in samples that are negative for influenza.

Results from this will provide an early warning to trigger a change in the public health response, Messonnier said.

According to a report from CNN Health’s Jamie Gumbrecht, there have been 15 cases of the novel coronavirus confirmed in seven states: eight in California; two in Illinois; and one each in Arizona, Washington, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Texas.

@ CNN