Coronavirus In Kane County: 2nd Case Confirmed

KANE COUNTY, IL — The second case of new coronavirus has been confirmed in Kane County, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The news comes as coronavirus fears sweep across the country, leading to canceled events and closures.

The case is a man in his 70s, per a press release from IDPH, but no additional patient information was available at press time. The first Kane County coronavirus case was confirmed Tuesday. That case is a woman in her 60s.

Kane County Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for information about whether the man and woman were in contact and at which hospital they were treated.

At press time, there have been 32 cases of coronavirus confirmed throughout Illinois. IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike said in a press conference Thursday that roughly one-third of these cases are travel-related. Ezike said close to 50 percent of these cases were caused by close contact with another patient.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain of the virus that causes COVID-19, called SARS-Cov-2, emerged in China in late 2019 and is related to other strains that have caused serious illnesses in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 and no antiviral treatment.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, some of these If you feel sick and worry you may have been exposed to coronavirus, you can contact the Coronavirus Disease Hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or your health care provider unless you are experiencing an urgent, serious medical emergency.

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