Hudson County's First Coronavirus Case Is Announced

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — On Sunday, the number of novel coronavirus cases in New Jersey reached six with the announcement of Hudson County's first case.

The state said that the patient, a 32-year-old resident of West New York, is being treated at Hackensack Medical Center. He developed symptoms in late February.

On Sunday, West New York Mayor Gabriel Rodriguez sent out a press release in which he said:

<blockquote>This morning I was informed by state officials that a West New York resident recorded a presumptive positive test for COVID-19/Coronavirus. Upon learning of the diagnosis I directed our Health Department to immediately undertake a Public Health Action Plan, including a full investigation of the individual’s timeline to assess the risk to public health.

The patient is a 32-year-old male and he is currently receiving treatment at Hackensack University Medical Center. In order to protect the patient’s privacy we are not releasing any other information at this time.

It’s important to note that the individual does not have any children who are students in the West New York school district, and we have communicated that fact to the Board of Education.

At this time we are urging residents to continue exercising common sense measures like frequently washing your hands and avoiding contact with others if you feel sick. We are working closely with our local health department and state officials and will provide additional updates as more information becomes available.</blockquote>

The town of West New York said that for any questions, residents are encouraged to call the state’s Coronavirus Information hotline at 1-800-222-1222 or the West New York Health Department at 201-295-5070 or visit the town’s website.

Elsewhere in Hudson County, the Hoboken public schools released an updated plan over the weekend for how they will plan for the spread of the virus. And on Sunday, Hoboken City Hall announced a new task force.

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.

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