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Texas officials to update public about dealing with coronavirus

Austin American-Statesman - 2/27/2020

Texas officials plan to update the public about precautionary steps they are taking to stop the spread of the new coronavirus in Texas after at least three people quarantined in San Antonio were diagnosed this month.

Gov. Greg Abbott, joined by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at the State Operations Center in North Austin at 3:30 p.m., is expected to discuss any new steps the state is taking to deal with a virus that has caused a global health scare with more than 81,000 cases confirmed internationally.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday confirmed 871 new cases globally within the past 24 hours.

In the United States, the CDC said they confirmed 14 cases of the virus so far. Of those, 12 were travel-related while two were spread person-to-person.

The CDC has tested 445 people in the United States for the disease so far, according to data updated Thursday.

The nearest confirmed COVID-19 case to Austin was at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, where at least three people quarantined there have been diagnosed, officials announced earlier this month.

The Texas Health and Human Services reported on its website Thursday that no other cases of the virus have been confirmed in Texas. State officials also said the public faces a low risk of any of the infected people in San Antonio spreading the virus to others in Texas.

"The patients have been under federal quarantine since their return and have not interacted with the public in Texas communities," the website said. "The risk for all Texans remains low."

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