6th Illinois Coronavirus Patient Is Chicago Public School Staffer

CHICAGO, IL — A Chicago Public Schools employee who recently returned to work after travelling on the Grand Princess cruise ship has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, officials announced Friday. The Chicago woman in her 50s is the sixth case of COVID-19 in Illinois, pending confirmation from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Classes have been cancelled next week at Vaughn Occupational High School on Chicago's North Side, where district staffer works as a special education classroom assistant in the 212-student school, according to CPS Superintendent Janice Jackson.

At a news conference Friday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the woman returned last week from a cruise on the Grand Princess — where at least 21 passengers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus strain.

The CPS employee has not returned to work since Monday, according to Lightfoot. She remained hospitalized in isolation Friday evening, and her condition was described as stable.

Earlier Friday, the fifth patient in the Chicago area to test positive for the novel coronavirus was released from Rush University Medical Center to remain under home quarantine, according to hospital officials.

That patient was been identified as a 21-year-old Vanderbilt University junior who had been studying abroad in Florance, Italy. He returned home Tuesday and testing positive Wednesday, WGN-TV reported. Speaking to the Vanderbilt Hustler, he described the situation as a "massive cover-up by the Italian government."

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The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus is now 15, according to a count maintained by Johns Hopkins. They include a a 71-year-old Grand Princess passenger who died in California and 14 people who have died in Washington state.

The death count worldwide is at least 3,400, the majority of them in China. Other nations reporting deaths: Italy, Iran, Iraq, South Korea, Japan, the UK, France, Spain, Hong Kong, the Philippines, San Marino, Switzerland, Thailand, and Taiwan. The total number of confirmed cases worldwide is now more than 101,000, but more than half of those people have already recovered.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks 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 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

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