Georgia Governor Brian Kemp held a late night press conference on Monday to announce confirmation of the first Coronavirus in Atlanta.
Two people who live in the same household tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. The couple are the first in Georgia to test positive for the virus.
Kemp and state officials announced the news at a hastily arranged press conference, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The couple, who live in Fulton County, showed minor symptoms of the illness shortly after one of the people returned to Georgia from a business trip to Milan, Italy.
“I want to reassure you that they’re at home, in home isolation with other household members, with minimal symptoms so they’re not hospitalized,” said Dr. Kathleen Toomey, head of the state’s public health department.
Dr. Toomey said the person who traveled to Italy detected the symptoms immediately and contacted his doctor upon returning to Atlanta. He was advised to stay home and wash his hands frequently.
The news comes as Washington state reported 6 Coronavirus deaths — all in the same nursing facility in Kirkland. The 6 elderly women were in their 70s and 80s.
President Donald Trump is set to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta on Friday. He has urged calm and said the risk to the American public remains low.
People who are at most risk are the elderly and those with weak immune systems. Most people who are 50 or younger who were infected with the Coronavirus have fully recovered.
Apple founder Steve Wozniak and his wife Janet say they may have been infected with the Covid-19 virus during a trip to China in January.
Wozniak tweeted on Monday that he and his wife had sore throats and coughs when they returned to the U.S. on Jan. 4.
Although they have fully recovered, Wozniak contacted the CDC but he received a form letter advising them to wash their hands.
The Coronavirus is not as deadly as the common flu virus which has killed 10,000 people this flu season. The CDC is expecting 40,000 deaths from the flu virus by the end of the flu season.
