Palo Alto Woman Ready To Return Home After Coronavirus Quarantine
SANTA CLARA COUNTY (CBS SF) -- A Palo Alto woman who has been quarantined on a southern California U.S. military base for nearly two weeks after leaving Wuhan amid the coronavirus outbreak is scheduled to return home on Tuesday morning.
"My family, I really can't wait to be reunited with them, I just want to give them big hugs," Esther Tebeka said through a video phone interview.
The number of those infected now stands at 43,090 worldwide, with the death toll totaling a little more than 1,000 people.
On Monday, 66 new cases were confirmed among the passengers of the Diamond Princess docked under quarantine in Yokohama, Japan. That brings the total number of people with the coronavirus on board to 130.
The cruise ship is being quarantined off the coast of Japan.
Meanwhile, in Santa Clara county, supervisors voted Monday afternoon to extend a health emergency declared last week to another 30 days. The act gives county leaders access to state funds and mutual aid in case the virus continues to spread in the area.
Despite the extension, county leaders said the risk to the public in the area was low. So far, two cases have been confirmed in the county.
The newest confirmed U.S. case came out of San Diego on Monday. The patient tested positive after being taken to a military base from Wuhan. The patient was evacuated with hundreds of others from the virus' epicenter. That person is reportedly in isolation at a nearby hospital, and is in good condition.
That patient is the 13th case of coronavirus here the U.S. and the 6th in California.
Tebeka said while she is expected to go home on Tuesday, her fears are not yet over.
"I hope people don't receive us as the walking dead," said Tebeka. "The reality is I was never infected. The whole flight of people, our flight, nobody's test result came out positive. So everybody's negative."
China's daily death toll from a new virus topped 100 for the first time Monday and pushed the total past 1,000 dead, authorities said after leader Xi Jinping visited a health center to rally public morale amid little sign the contagion is abating.
Though more offices and stores in China were reopening after the extended Lunar New Year break, many people appear to be staying home. Public health authorities are closely monitoring whether workers' returning to cities and businesses resuming worsens the spread of the virus.
© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
