A Georgia couple has tested positive for Coronavirus while onboard a cruise ship in Tokyo, Japan.
According to Georgia Public Broadcasting, Clyde and Renee Smith — both 80-year-olds — were on the cruise ship with their grandchildren and have since been moved to a hospital in Japan.
The family reports that the Smiths have not experienced any symptoms of the virus and are in rooms at the hospital next door to each other.
The Smiths live near Decatur.
This outbreak of coronavirus began in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and continues to spread.
The outbreak now includes hundreds of confirmed infections and a growing number of deaths in several countries. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing respiratory illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats and bats.
The beginning of this outbreak has been linked to a large seafood and animal market in Wuhan. A growing number of patients reportedly have not had exposure to the animal markets and many healthcare workers have become infected, indicating person to person spread is occurring.
Because this is a new coronavirus, we do not know everything about it yet. Based on patients with confirmed coronavirus, symptoms include fever and signs of lower respiratory illness, such as cough and shortness of breath, case-patients also develop pneumonia. The CDC says symptoms may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 after exposure. There is currently no specific antiviral treatment for coronavirus infection or vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection.
