New Jersey confirmed its first coronavirus case on Wednesday — a man in his 30s who has been hospitalized since Tuesday in Bergen County.
“We take this situation very seriously and have been preparing for this for weeks,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a Wednesday press release announcing the patient.
State officials are labeling the case “presumptive” since the positive state test results still need to be confirmed with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Regardless, state and local health officials are forging ahead with their investigation and working to locate anyone the patient may have come into contact with, the release said.
Murphy’s announcement came as New York on Wednesday confirmed there are now 11 coronavirus cases in the state.
Nine of New York’s patients are linked to an infected Westchester attorney, identified by sources as Lawrence Garbuz, 50, whose practice is across the street from Grand Central Station.
Wednesday night, the Mount Vernon School District in Westchester, which is close to Garbuz’s New Rochelle home, announced two students and their families have been under quarantine for possible coronavirus exposure.
All school buildings and offices in the district will be closed until at least Monday for cleaning and disinfecting, the district said on its website.
The students, who attend Columbus School and Rebecca Turner Elementary School, will be out of class for at least two weeks.