The newly identified virus was first detected in December in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the global outbreak. The virus, known officially as COVID-19, has since spread to every continent except Antarctica, and the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a global health emergency. South Korea, Italy and Iran have the highest national totals of confirmed cases behind China, respectively.
In the United States, at least 249 confirmed cases have been detected through the local public health system. There are an additional 70 Americans diagnosed with the virus who were either repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan, were evacuated from Wuhan on a U.S. government-chartered plane or diagnosed on board the Grand Princess cruise ship anchored off San Francisco. So far, at least 17 Americans infected with the virus have died.
The states reporting cases are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
