Dozens Quarantined After Seeing CHOP Doctor With Coronavirus

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA — The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia doctor with coronavirus had contact with 17 staff members and around two dozen patients at an outpatient facility in King of Prussia, the hospital said Tuesday in a statement providing additional details surrounding the case.

CHOP said they were able to get in touch with all families that had contact by 4 p.m. Monday. All staff and families have been told to self-quarantine. The exposure has prompted several school closings, including in both Bucks and Montgomery counties.

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The doctor, a cardiologist, saw patients over four days during the week of March 1, according to the hospital. He was diagnosed with coronavirus on Sunday, March 8, CHOP said. He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he is in critical condition.

Several schools in Montgomery County, as well as Neshaminy High School in Bucks County and Henderson High School in Chester County, were closed as a precaution after it was discovered students or family members had contact with the doctor, who was sickened after traveling overseas.

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The doctor had visited a country with known cases of coronavirus but was not on the CDC's Level 3 travel advisory list, which includes highly infected countries like China, Iran, South Korea, and Italy.

The affected part of the outpatient facility in King of Prussia was closed on Monday. CHOP said that as of Tuesday morning, all units at the King of Prussia facility that may have been infected have been thoroughly cleaned and reopened.

When asked why, as a medical professional, the man did not self-quarantine, chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Val Arkoosh said that she "did not have any details on the personal circumstances of the affected individual."

CHOP called the experience "a humbling reminder of the diligence we all must demonstrate when monitoring our own health and that of those around us."

It's unknown to what extent the virus may have been spread. County health officials use a forensic process called "contact tracing" that attempts to identify all individuals and public locations where people who had contact with an individual with coronavirus may have been.

Health officials said on Monday that 13 children from Montgomery County had been impacted, but the total number of impacted individuals was not public until now.

There are a total of eight confirmed cases in Montgomery County and 12 in Pennsylvania.

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