March 15, 2020
A second person in New Jersey has died from the coronavirus. The patient was a woman in her 50s who was being treated at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced on social media.
"Please wash your hands frequently and practice social distancing," Murphy wrote Saturday night. "We will get through this together."
The first New Jersey resident to die due to COVID-19 occurred this past Tuesday. He was a man in his 60s from Bergen County.
The state now has 98 presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus as of Sunday afternoon. Cases are considered presumptive positive until test results are confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. There are currently 34 people under investigation in the state for COVID-19, and 120 coronavirus tests have come back negative.
The vast majority of cases have popped up in either North or Central Jersey, with only five thus far in South Jersey. There are currently three cases in Burlington County and two in Camden County.
Murphy has also urged for the cancellation of all mass gatherings of more than 250 people in the state in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
There are over 2,700 cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. as of Sunday morning, with 59 deaths so far from the virus, according to the New York Times. Pennsylvania currently has 47 cases of COVID-19, with the vast majority occurring in Philadelphia and Southeastern Pennsylvania. There have been no deaths related to the outbreak reported yet in the state.
More than 154,800 people worldwide have contracted the illness and over 5,700 have died from the virus as of Sunday morning. Coronavirus has spread to at least 130 countries and six continents. Along with the U.S., some of the hardest-hit countries by the virus include China, Italy, South Korea, Iran, Spain, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland.
Coronavirus symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Most illnesses are mild, but a serious illness occurs in about 16% of cases, according to initial data from China. The incubation period is believed to be 2-14 days.
Older people and those with underlying health conditions, including heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, appear to be at greater risk for developing a serious illness, according to the CDC.
There is no known treatment for COVID-19 and a vaccine is expected to take at least a year to develop.
Health experts stress that the best way to prevent illness is to practice good hand hygiene, avoid close contact with sick individuals and frequently disinfect common surfaces and objects.
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