WASHINGTON--New York state confirmed its first positive coronavirus test, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday night, as the U.S. government said it would start screening travelers for the virus and hike production of protective masks.
Cuomo said on Twitter that a woman in her 30s contracted coronavirus during a recent trip to Iran and was in quarantine in her home. He did not say where the woman lived.
"The patient has respiratory symptoms, but is not in serious condition and has been in a controlled situation since arriving in New York," Cuomo said.
At the federal level, President Donald Trump's administration scrambled on Sunday to reassure Americans as the disease spreads and businesses cancel conferences and flights.
Administration officials tried to calm market fears that the coronavirus could cause a global recession, saying the public had overreacted and that stocks would bounce back because of the underlying strength of the U.S. economy.
The first American died from coronavirus, a man in his 50s with underlying conditions in Washington state, officials said on Saturday. They still do not know how he contracted the disease.
The state on Sunday confirmed two other cases and locked down a long-term care facility where a resident and a worker also tested positive for coronavirus and 50 residents and staff are showing symptoms.
Over 70 cases have been reported in the United States, with most on the West Coast but new cases in the Chicago area and Rhode Island, aside from New York. Stock markets plunged last week, with an index of global stocks setting its largest weekly fall since the 2008 financial crisis, and more than $5 trillion wiped off the value of stocks worldwide.
A key energy conference in Houston that brings together oil ministers and energy firms was canceled on Sunday with the organizers of CERAWeek noting that border health checks were becoming more restrictive and companies had begun barring non-essential travel to protect workers.
A world economy conference with Pope Francis due to take place in Italy later this month was also canceled.
Trump said on Sunday that travelers to the United States from countries at high risk of coronavirus would be screened before boarding and on arrival, without specifying which countries. Delta Air Lines Inc said on Sunday it was suspending until May flights to Milan in northern Italy where most of that country's coronavirus cases have been reported. Flights will continue to Rome. American Airlines Group Inc announced a similar move late on Saturday.
