Baylor University officials on Monday confirmed that the student at the center of a suspected case of the China-linked coronavirus at the school has tested negative.
Sharon W. Stern, the medical director for Baylor University Health Services, called the negative results “good news.”
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“We are deeply grateful to our local and University health care providers and officials and the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District for their approach to this case, their proactive guidance and expertise and the compassionate care extended to our student while we awaited the CDC results,” she said in a statement provided to Fox News. “We continue to take this issue seriously and remain vigilant. Our prayers are with all those affected and for the doctors, nurses and other health officials who are working to understand and contain the virus.”
Previously, university and local health officials said a student at the Waco, Texas school had possibly been infected with the novel virus that’s killed at least 81 people and sickened thousands of others. The student, who was not identified, recently traveled to China, officials with the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District and the university recently confirmed.
Pending test results, the student was moved into an “isolated room on campus as a precaution,” Baylor University officials previously said in a news release, adding at the time that faculty services “thoroughly sanitized the student’s residence hall room, as well as the residence hall where the individual lived.”
“The student is being monitored by Baylor, state and local health officials. The University also is working with the student to make sure needs are being met during the isolation period,” officials said.
It was not immediately clear where the student had traveled in China, or if he or she had been to Wuhan, the center of the outbreak. No other details were released.
The news comes after additional U.S. cases of coronavirus were confirmed over the weekend, bringing the nation’s tally to five. All cases were among people who traveled to Wuhan.
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The three previously reported cases were a patient in Orange County, California; a man in his 30s in Washington state; and a woman in her 60s from Chicago. Two new cases were reported Sunday, one in Los Angeles County in California and one in Maricopa County, Arizona.
The U.S. patients generally have been reported to be in good condition and were hospitalized in isolation for monitoring.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
