Second coronavirus case identified in New Jersey

Two people have now tested positive for the coronavirus in New Jersey, Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver announced Thursday night.

Both patients are Bergen County residents. The first tested positive late Wednesday, the other Thursday, state Health Commissioner Judith M. Persichilli said.

The results were described as “presumptive positive," meaning they now are being submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmatory testing, but they already are included in official case counts. The CDC uses the same test, and to date all such tests from patients elsewhere in the country have been confirmed.

The first patient, a 32-year-old man, began experiencing symptoms of infection with the coronavirus on March 1, said Persichilli, who joined Oliver at an afternoon news conference. He sought medical care the next day at a Bergen County urgent care facility, and later was sent to the emergency room at Hackensack University Medical Center, where he has been kept isolated from other patients, Persichilli said.

The second patient, a woman her in 30s, was described by state officials later Thursday as having mild symptoms. She went to Englewood Hospital to submit her sample for testing at a state laboratory and now is in isolation at home until the New Jersey Department of Health deems she has passed the infectious stage, the governor’s office said.

Persichilli said officials “expect to see more cases in New Jersey.”

“Currently, we have eight persons under investigation awaiting testing,” she said. The state has previously identified 11 negative cases, along with the two people now testing positive for coronavirus.

The first patient is in stable condition at Hackensack. He recently spent time in New York, so New Jersey health officials are working with counterparts in that state to identify all contacts he may have had.

The man is staying in a room with lower air pressure than in adjacent rooms and hallways, so that air circulating in his room does not escape, said Ihor Sawczuk, a physician at Hackensack University Medical Center. Medical devices used in the patient’s care are earmarked for use on him only, the doctor said.

“Equipment does not come in and out,” Sawczuk said. “And we use a limited number of personnel who work with the patient.”

Persichilli said most New Jersey residents are still at very low risk of being infected with coronavirus.

”The threat to public health in New Jersey remains low," she said. “We urge residents to remain calm. And it bears repeating: This is cold and flu season, and residents with respiratory ailments are more likely to be suffering from a cold or flu, not coronavirus.”

Coronavirus test results can take up to 72 hours from when a patient first goes to a hospital with symptoms, said Christopher Neuwirth, an assistant commissioner with the New Jersey Health Department.

That includes time to evaluate the patient, collect specimens, send them to the lab, and run the tests, he said at the news conference.

Currently, New Jersey is testing patients only at its state lab, using test kits provided by the CDC, but health officials have shared the test guidelines with licensed clinical labs so they can develop their own, Neuwirth said.