U.S. officials: Four more Diamond Princess passengers have coronavirus; U.S. cases at 57

Four more passengers from the Diamond Princess cruise ship have tested positive for coronavirus COVID-19, bringing the total number of Americans infected from the ship to 40, leading U.S. health officials said Tuesday.

That brings the total U.S. coronavirus cases to 57. The number includes 12 who returned from China before the federal government imposed travel restrictions, two who became infected from other people and three who were repatriated from the outbreak’s epicenter of Wuhan, China.

Though China remains the epicenter of the outbreak, U.S. officials expressed concern Tuesday that a growing number of cases in other countries, particularly South Korea, Iran and Italy, mean COVID-19 is on its way to becoming a full-blown pandemic. 

Schools could be closed, mass public gatherings suspended and businesses forced to have employees work remotely, Nancy Messonnier, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters in a conference call Tuesday.

“Disruption to everyday life may be severe,” she said.

Though officials stressed Tuesday that the outbreak remained contained in the U.S., questions remained about the nation’s level of preparedness for the increase in cases that’s likely to come. Officials didn’t say immediately Tuesday where the four additional cases from the Diamond Princess were under quarantine.

More than 300 of the cruise ship’s passengers are completing a two-week quarantine at U.S. military bases in California, Texas and Colorado and a hospital in Nebraska. Of the 40 cases from the Diamond Princess, 14 of them tested positive before they boarded two chartered evacuation flights last week with passengers who tested negative.

Another 100 Americans who were on the ship are stuck in Japan, where the ship is docked. U.S. officials barred those passengers from returning home for two weeks, but they are not quarantined.

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