Wisconsin Family Stuck In China Amid Coronavirus Outbreak: Report

MILWAUKEE, WI — A Wisconsin man is hoping for the safe return of his wife and two children after they went to visit family in Wuhan, China — largely considered the epicenter for the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

According to a WISN 12 report, Samuel Roth's wife Daisy, their 10-month-old child and 5-year-old child are now stuck in Wuhan after city officials put Wuhan on lockdown.

"My wife and daughters went to visit Wuhan and are now trapped there. It is quite jarring, at work here in Wisconsin, to find people that still have no idea what is happening in China let alone that my family is in the middle of it," Roth wrote on Twitter on Jan. 27.

They're the just the latest people with Wisconsin ties who are dealing with a deadly outbreak that reportedly started half-a-world away.

Wisconsinites Tested

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is testing five people for the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wisconsin, public health officials say. Results are pending in these cases. Test results for an additional patient under investigation were negative.

“DHS is actively monitoring this outbreak and working with our local, state, and federal partners to be able to respond quickly and effectively when people have symptoms of this virus and a likelihood of exposure,” State Health Officer Jeanne Ayers said in a news release. “While all information we have so far shows there is low risk to the general public, we take new infectious diseases seriously and are taking precautions.”

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Health officials in Wisconsin say they are closely coordinating with local health departments and federal partners to stay on top of this issue. Local partners are helping state health workers conduct interviews, collect specimens, and follow up with patients to see who they have been in contact with.

Wisconsin officials have asked health care providers to alert authorities if a person with recent travel to Wuhan, China has become sick with fever or respiratory symptoms. When people under investigation for novel coronavirus are evaluated, clinical samples are collected and submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing.

That testing can take several days. If there is a confirmed case in Wisconsin, details and protective recommendations will be shared with the affected person, or persons, and the public.

The news of five new test cases comes less than a week after a total of six UW-Platteville students were monitored to make sure they did not have a coronavirus infection after coming back from China.

According to a Wisconsin Public Radio report, the students were screened at O'Hare International Airport, and showed no signs of the illness. Two of the students are from Wuhan, China, the origin of the outbreak. All were monitored as a precaution.

Two flights from Wuhan, China, landed at Chicago's O'Hare Airport last week Wednesday. The Centers for Disease Control added health screenings at O'Hare ahead of time, and have similar screenings in place at San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Division of Public Health in Wisconsin are closely monitoring a coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China. There aren't any cases of coronavirus in Wisconsin, health officials say.