EVERETT — The first person in the United States diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus has been released from Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, after being admitted two weeks ago.
“I am at home and continuing to get better,” the Snohomish County man said in a statement released Monday. “I ask that the media please respect my privacy and my desire not to be in the public eye. I would like to thank the doctors, nurses, and entire team at Providence who cared for me. I appreciate all of the concern expressed by members of the public, and I look forward to returning to my normal life.”
The man, 35, remained in isolation at home and is being monitored by the Snohomish Health District, in coordination with his Providence care team.
“For the privacy of the patient, we will not be disclosing the exact date of discharge or any additional details regarding his discharge process,” the hospital said in a news release.
The man was admitted on Jan. 20, five days after returning from a trip to Wuhan, China. He was treated in a special isolation unit at the hospital devised for the Ebola outbreak five years ago. He got worse before he got better. He was given an experimental drug developed for Ebola.
The state on Monday afternoon listed only 18 people as being monitored for being in close contact with the Snohomish County man. At one point 69 were being watched.
Tests remain pending for five people in Washington, while 16 others have received negative results.
The CDC has tested 260 people from 36 states. Of these, 167 were negative and 82 were pending on Monday.
A detailed scientific article in the New England Journal of Medicine written by public health officials in the county and Washington state is guiding others worldwide.
Collaborators on the article include Providence’s Dr. Ahmet Tural, Dr. George Diaz, Sarah Wilkerson, manager of infection prevention, and physician assistant Keith Ericson as well as the health district’s Dr. Christopher Spitters and Hollianne Bruce, an epidemiologist.
The U.S. government has suspended entry of foreign nationals who have visited China within the past 14 days, and measures are being implemented to detect the virus among those U.S. citizens, residents and family who have been in China within 14 days. Flights are being routed through select airports, including Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Andrea Brown: abrown@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3443. Twitter @reporterbrown.
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