HOUSTON – Harris County Public Health officials are warning the community to beware of coronavirus rumors in the Houston area.
The organization took to Twitter on Saturday to confirm that despite false alarms being given by a “disinformation site” that there were four people being treated for coronavirus in Harris County, the information is not true.
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“We reiterate again we have zero (0) cases of #NovelCoronavirus in #harriscounty,” Harris County Public Health officials tweeted.
There is a disinformation site 🚫claiming that there are 4 individuals in #harriscounty being treated for #coronavirus
— Harris County Public Health #PublicHealth (@hcphtx) February 9, 2020
We reiterate again we have zero 0 🙅🏽♀️cases of #NovelCoronavirus in #harriscounty
❌❌❌ pic.twitter.com/7OrJ0tW4dF
Mainland China’s death toll from the virus outbreak has topped 900, surpassing the number of fatalities in the 2002-2003 SARS pandemic. However, the number of new cases reported over the last 24 hours on Sunday fell significantly from the previous period, something experts see as a sign the spread of the virus may be slowing.
Another 89 deaths were reported, while 2,656 new cases were added for a total of 37,198. On Saturday, 3,399 cases were reported for the previous 24 hours.
A plane transported as many as 250 people that will be quarantined for a 14-day period against the novel coronavirus at Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland Friday afternoon. While in quarantine, the CDC says everyone will undergo twice daily temperature screenings, and if anyone shows signs of illness, they will receive an immediate medical evaluation. If someone is diagnosed with coronavirus, they will then be transported via EMS to a hospital that has already been arranged to treat the coronavirus patients.
Li Wenliang, 34, the Chinese doctor who sounded early warnings about the Wuhan coronavirus, died after becoming serously ill from the virus. He raised the alarm about the novel coronavirus in December, posting in his medical school alumni group on the Chinese messaging app WeChat that seven patients from a local seafood market had been diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and were quarantined in his hospital in Wuhan. Soon after he posted the message, Li was accused of rumor-mongering by the Wuhan police.