CORRECTS COAST GUARD TO NATIONAL GUARD-In this photo provided by Michele Smith, a cruise ship worker cleans a railing on the Grand Princess Thursday, March 5, 2020, off the California coast. Scrambling to keep the coronavirus at bay, officials ordered a cruise ship with about 3,500 people aboard to stay back from the California coast Thursday until passengers and crew can be tested, after a traveler from its previous voyage died of the disease and at least two others became infected. A National Guard helicopter lowered test kits onto the 951-foot (290-meter) Grand Princess by rope as the vessel lay at anchor off Northern California, and authorities said the results would be available on Friday. Princess Cruise Lines said fewer than 100 people aboard had been identified for testing. (Michele Smith via AP)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota health officials said Friday the state has its first confirmed case of coronavirus.
The Minnesota Department of Health said the case is an older adult from Ramsey County who traveled recently on a cruise ship that carried another person with a known case. The Minnesotan developed symptoms Feb. 25 and sought health care Thursday, the department said. The state got a positive test result on Friday, and is awaiting confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control.
Officials said the person is isolated at home and recovering, with help from St. Paul and Ramsey County public health officials.
The department said it’s working to identify and contact people who may have come into contact with the infected person. Those people will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days from their date of exposure and will be monitored for symptoms.
It’s not immediately clear which cruise ship the person was on. One passenger on a Grand Princess ship that went to Mexico from Feb. 11 through Feb. 21 has died of the disease and health officials have recently disclosed that six other people on that same excursion were infected.