First Presumptive Positive Coronavirus Case In Jersey City

Jersey City NJ

13 March, 2020

11:11 AM

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JERSEY CITY – The city's first presumptive positive case of the new coronavirus was identified on Friday. The case involves a 41-year-old woman who lives in downtown Jersey City and who was proactive when she felt symptoms, officials said. She initiated testing with her private physician. The results were then transmitted to the city's Health Department Communicable Disease Reporting Surveillance System, said Kim Wallace-Scalcione, director of communications. Several people have gone through the testing process (7) over the last few weeks who felt symptoms - all tested negative on initial tests. Presumptive positive means the person tested positive in state labs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ultimately confirms the test. So far, 100 percent of the state's positive tests have been confirmed. The city has been diligent in communicating only factual information over the last few weeks, she said, and "we have aggressively been putting in place the safeguards to protect residents with social distancing.""Our Health & Human Services officials are working aggressively, and we have been preparing for this," she said. "We will be providing more information and support as it becomes available, but we wanted to make sure people are aware to avoid rumors and misinformation from spreading."