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California is monitoring over 8,000 individuals for signs of the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19, according to California Governor Gavin Newsom during a press conference Thursday.
In addition, California has reported 33 coronavirus tests that are confirmed positive, although five of the individuals who tested positive are no longer within the state.
According to recent data, the U.S. is currently reporting 60 cases of coronavirus but no deaths attributable to the infection.
Newsom said some of the cases being monitored were individuals who had returned from to the U.S. on repatriation flights from other parts of the world.
"Over 800 people have come in on those flights but that is a small part of the overall picture," Newsom said.
"Thousands and thousands of other people have come in on more traditional flights through the state of California," Newsom continued. "8,400 plus are currently being monitored, with 49 local jurisdictions doing those protocols and monitoring as it relates to more traditional commercial flights which came in from points of concern and potential points of contact, particularly in Asia."
"As of today, and I say as of today at this hour, we have 33 confirmed positive tests for the virus," Newsom continued. "Five individuals have subsequently moved out of state, so there are 28 people that we know in this state of California that are positive."
Newsweek reached out to Governor Newsom's office for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Newsom also addressed the announcement on Wednesday that a case of community spread coronavirus had occurred in California, in which the patient had neither traveled out of the country or been in contact with an infected individual.
"We knew this was inevitable as it relates to the nature, the epidemiology, the nature of these viruses that that incident would occur," Newsom said, calling the case "no surprise."
In a statement released Wednesday, UC Davis Health said the patient was being treated with "airborne precautions and strict caution precautions."
"This is not the first COVID-19 patient we have treated," the statement continued, "and because of the precautions we have had in place since this patient's arrival, we believe there has been minimal potential for exposure here at UC Davis Medical Center."
World Health Organization director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday the coronavirus has the potential to become a pandemic in developed countries.
"No country should assume it wouldn't get cases," Ghebreyesus said, according to ABC News. "This virus does not respect borders. It does not distinguish between races or ethnicities. It has no regard for a country's GDP or level of development."
"The point is not only to prevent cases arriving on your shores," Ghebreyesus added, "the point is what you do when you have cases."
Health and Human Services Secretary Alexander Azar told the House Ways and Means Committee Thursday that Americans are still at low risk for contracting the virus. Efforts to contain the outbreak in the U.S. "will look and feel to the American people more like a severe flu season in terms of the interventions and approaches you will see," Azar said.
Over 83,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 2,800 casualties due to the virus reported, according to recent statistic reports.
