Child fleeing coronavirus in China hospitalized in California with fever

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KTLA) -- A child who arrived last week at March Air Reserve Base in a group of Americans fleeing the coronavirus in China has been hospitalized after developing a fever, while another traveler who arrived at LAX has been quarantined at the base, Riverside County officials said Tuesday.

The child, accompanied by a parent, was taken by ambulance to Riverside University Health System-Medical Center for testing and observation, according to a news release from county health officials.

The move was taken “out of an abundance of caution,” the release stated.

The child was in a group of 195 Americans being housed at the military base. All were placed under a 14-day federal quarantine last Friday, two days after the travelers landed.

At least six cases of novel coronavirus have been diagnosed in California, but so far, none of them are tied to the passengers who were sent to the base after being evacuated from China amid the outbreak.

Meanwhile, a traveler who arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday has been placed under a federal quarantine and taken to the base.

The individual had no symptoms of novel coronavirus but “was moved to March out of an abundance of caution and because of their travel history,” according to the news release.

He or she will be quarantined through Thursday and isolated from the other American passengers.

As of Tuesday morning, there were 20,438 confirmed cases of coronavirus in China, an increase of over 3,000 from the previous day, according to CNN. The death rate is about 2.1% in the country.

There are over 200 diagnosed cases of coronavirus outside of China, including at least 11 in the United States.

The World Health Organization declared the new virus a global health emergency last week.